The Ties That Bind
by TMadison
Summary: Seven years later, Daniel and Betty are both at different points in their lives than either of them ever imagined. Each of them have their secrets that involve the other.
1. Chapter 1

**The Ties That Bind**

**Author's Notes: I'm breaking my new rule of doing two large stories at one time. However, this idea has been swimming around in my mind for a while now and I just had to get in down. Please let me know what you think. As always, I appreicate the feedback and comments. **

* * *

**Chapter 1**

If someone had asked Daniel seven years ago that he would be in this specific place in his life, he would have told him that they were crazy. After all, he was a Meade and the life that he was currently living was not one that his father would have ever envisioned for him.

In fact, he was probably sure that his father was spinning in his grave.

Yes. Life didn't turn out the way that Daniel had wanted. When he left Meade Publications years ago, he had a specific path in mind- one that involved a certain assistant that had captured his heart.

But that didn't matter now. There was no point on dwelling on the past that he couldn't change. Wasn't it bad enough that despite Betty's absence from his life, she was still a huge part of it?

As he typed out a few more sentences, he knew that it was time that he brought this story to an end but doing that would mean letting go of Betty. He wasn't sure that he would ever be able to do that even though she had chosen her career over him.

He loved her enough to let her go and head back to New York with all the promises between things that things wouldn't change…and they would always be close. Futile promises they both knew.

Still, he thought of her and the words on the page were the evidence…and the whole world knew those words well.

After all, his books had sold millions. What they didn't know was that they were his words?

From the front room, he heard the front door slam. That only meant one thing.

_Brandon was home from school._

Daniel quickly saved his work and got up from his desk. It was time for his second job as a father to the young boy that had come into his life last year. In fact, everyone had thought he was insane for taking on the hyperactive seven year-old who had a tendency to get into trouble. Daniel figured that if anyone could understand him. It was him.

He also got in a mess of trouble in his younger days. Perhaps, if Bradford had spent enough time with him, things could have been different…and it wouldn't have taken Daniel so long to evolve into an actual human being.

Regardless of what everyone thought, the adoption was finalized nine months ago and Daniel and Brandon had been a family ever since.

As he made his way down the hall, he saw Brandon rush by him and head straight for his room, slamming the door behind him. His nanny Maria was close behind him but stopped when she met Daniel in the hall.

"What's wrong with him?"

Maria sighed. "The principal wants to see you first thing in the morning."

Daniel groaned. "What did he do?"

"He got into a fight." Maria informed Daniel, handing over the white envelope that was addressed him. "With a girl."

* * *

If someone had asked Betty seven years ago exactly where she thought she would be at this point in her life, she would have told them that she imaged that she would have her own magazine by now.

And she did have that….until she didn't. Six years of hard work were down the drain when Dunne Publication closed half their magazines and forced her to return to New York and back to square one and back to Queens.

Upon her return, she had thought about going back to Meade and asking for a job. She found her pride wouldn't let her though. After all, she hadn't talked to Daniel in almost seven years now and to go to Meade now would be like adding salt to old wounds.

So instead, she took a job at a small newspaper, writing book reviews that no one probably ever read and worked at nights waiting tables to make ends meet.

Yes. Life didn't turn out the way that Betty had wanted and now she could clearly see the missing chance that she didn't take on the man that she would hold a special place in her heart for as long as she lived.

But that didn't matter now. There was no point on dwelling on the past that she couldn't change. Wasn't it bad enough that despite Daniel's absence from her life, he was still a huge part of it?

As she hurried to get ready for her shift at the pizza place, she glanced in the mirror. She couldn't help but wonder how he was. She knew that he was as handsome as ever…having seen a photo of him at the newspaper she worked for. The one photo had opened up a flood of emotions that Betty had long packed away in the back of her heart, along with the memories of their brief romance in London.

The dinners…the wooing...the kisses….the…she shook her head. She couldn't think about this. Not anymore. It's been seven years and obviously there was no way they could go back and change anything.

From downstairs, she heard the front door slam and Hilda call out. That only meant one thing.

_Hilda had brought Isabella home._

Betty ran the brush through her hair one last time and placed it back down on the dresser. It was time for her third job and the most important one- her job as the mother of the little girl that came into her life unexpectedly almost six years ago. Her family had told her that she was insane for trying to do this alone.

But she did do it alone and thought it wasn't always easy. She had managed to provide for Isabella, giving her the things she never had, including the extremely expensive private school education.

As Betty made her way down the stairs, Isabella ran up the stairs.

"Don't I get a hello?" Betty blocked Isabella's advance, lowering herself down to her level.

"Hi, Mommy." She hugged her.

"How was school?" Betty scanned Isabella's face and noticed her glasses were missing. "Where are you glasses?"

Isabella gave Betty a hesitant look. "They are broken."

"How did they get broken?" Betty asked her daughter.

"Can I go to my room now?" Isabella asked as she tried to go up the stairs again.

Hilda stood at bottom of the stairs. "Not so fast, young lady. You need to tell your mother what you've done."

"I got in a fight." Isabella sighed. "It wasn't my fault. It was that stupid boy's fate. He asked for it…so I hit him right in the eye." She made balled up her hand and made a fist.

"Bella, we don't get into fights. Do you understand me?" Betty said sternly.

"But…mommy, he kept pulling my hair and he called me four eyes."

"Still, that is no excuse. Understand?"

"Yes, mommy."

"Okay but we are not done talking about this," said Betty.

Isabella nodded and they made her way up the stairs to her room.

Betty rested against the step, as she sat down. Hilda walked up the stairs and took a seat beside her. She handed Betty a white envelope.

"Looks like you get to go to the principal's office for the first time EVER," said Hilda. "They want to see you in the morning. It seems that this isn't the first time they have had a problem with Isabella and this Brandon kid. They want to meet with you and Brandon's father."

"Did she really punch him?" Betty asked, as she covered her face. She knew that Isabella was had a spunky personality and always spoke her mind but never had she known her to resort to something like this.

"Oh yeah….he's got a shiner." Hilda chuckled. "The girl knows how to throw punch. She must get that from me."

"Hilda…" Betty rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, you know you don't have to go through this alone. Have you ever thought about calling Daniel and telling him that he has a daughter?

"He's going to hate me, Hilda. More than he probably already does."

"Maybe…but we both know that he deserves to know and I think it is way overdue that he knew the truth," said Hilda.

As Betty sat there, she knew that Hilda was right.

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	2. Chapter 2

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I appreciate it so much. You guys are great and I really do appreciate each of her for the time that you take to read my stories._

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Betty was late. She was late for her meeting at the principal's office and that was some way to make an impression. With her cup of coffee in hand, she rushed out the door of the diner and was prepared to walk as fast as her short little legs would carry her the two blocks to Kingsbury Academy.

As she started down the sidewalk, her heel broke and she lunged forward. Her coffee spilled on the sidewalk and her contents of her bag spilled everywhere. She was landed on all fours, as people continued to walk pass her, like she wasn't even there.

Betty tried to gather herself as she watched her lipstick continue its journey down the sidewalk, rolling further and further away, until a foot stopped it from going any further.

Her eyes traveled upwards, from the dress shoes….up the dark pant legs….to the Dolce & Gabbana jacket to those familiar blue eyes that belong to the one and only Daniel Meade.

"Betty?" He stood beside the town car that had surely delivered him here with an surprised grin on his face like this was his lucky day.

He abandoned his place on the sidewalk and moved swiftly to help her up.

Her first instinct was to run as soon as he helped her up. Once she was on her feet again, she couldn't look at him. It was too hard. It just made everything come back. Everything that happened in London, the way she broke his heart and the way he broke hers.

"Are you okay?" He asked, as he picked up her bag and started putting things back inside.

She nodded as she watched him and tried to figure out what to say. "Yeah. I think so."

Daniel grinned. "What are you doing in New York? When did you get back from London?"

"Just visiting." God…Betty hated to lie. It was just a small one though, if you compared it to the untold truth that she had been keeping to herself for so long.

Right now, Betty knew that telling Daniel that she was in New York for good; would probably open up lots of questions that she just didn't want to answer.

Not when she was already running late for her appointment.

"Wow…it's been so long." Daniel said with a genuine smile. "You look great."

"Thank you." She said, feeling a hint of warmth rush into her cheeks. She glanced down at her coffee stained dress and then back up. She wobbled a little bit on her uneven footing. Daniel moved quickly to steady her. "Uh…you look great too.

"Hey, why don't I get you another coffee?" Daniel offered.

"I can't….really." She tried to pull away.

"Oh…okay. Maybe some other time while you are still in town." Daniel moves quickly to pull out his card from the inside pocket of his jacket.

"I…." Betty bit her lip as she gazed at the card that he offered.

"Betty, I'm not going to bite you. I promise. I just want to catch up," said Daniel. "That's all. I think it's time we put the past behind us."

"Don't you?" He added.

Betty continued to stare at the card and considered the possibilities of what she could do with the card. Then, she remembered Hilda's words about telling Daniel the truth about his daughter.

Isabella deserved to know her father. Six years without him in her life was long enough. Six years that she had to go without knowing what kind of man Daniel was.

Betty never intended things to go on for so long. She remembered staring at the phone in the hospital the day that Isabella was born, figuring out what she was going to say and wondering if there really were any words that could be used to fix such a complex situation.

Then before she knew it, Isabella turned one year old…and then two…and then three. The longer it went on, the more fear that Betty had.

"Okay." She nodded. She had to do this for Isabella. Even if Daniel ended up hating her, Betty knew that he would fall in love with Isabella instantly, just like she had when she held her for the first time.

Betty felt a ton of guilt rush over her. All the moments that Betty had stolen from Daniel.

The first ultrasounds of Isabella Claire Suarez…her birth…her first steps…her first everything. The moments that she could never give back to him.

This was not going to end well but at some point, it would have to be done. She might as well contemplate the first step.

She accepted the card. That was the first step.

"Daniel, it's really great to see you. I really have to go. I'm late for an appointment," said Betty.

"Yeah. Me too." His eyes fixed on her. "Call me."

"Okay." Betty replied with some hesistation.

* * *

Daniel sat in the principal's office. A place that was very familiar to him in his younger days. He just never would believe that he would be here because his son got in a fight with a girl in his class.

"Mr. Meade, this is not the first time that we've had a problem with Brandon." The principal sat back in his chair, folding his hands in front of him. "I told you over the phone just two weeks ago that one more time…."

"This wasn't his fault. The girl started it." Daniel cut in.

"Isabella is an excellent student. She isn't the one with the history of misbehaving," said the principal sternly. "Your son is the troublemaker."

"Mr. Adams, you know that Brandon has been through a lot. His parents and his sister died last year. He's just had a really….rough time."

"And I'm really sorry about for his loss but he's been in two different school before Kingsbury and he's been kicked out of both of them," said Mr. Adams. "I have no choice but to suspend him. Next time, he won't be so lucky."

"What about the girl? Are you just going to let her off without any kind of punishment? She gave him a black eye." Daniel pointed out as he prepared to defend Brandon until he was blue in the face. "How do you know she won't be your next discipline problem? She obviously doesn't know how to restrain herself. There are other ways to deal with things than punching people."

Daniel added. "And her parents aren't even here. What does that say about them? They obviously don't care about their child."

Behind his back, Daniel heard the abrupt sound of the door opening and quickly closing.

"It's about time. You do realize that our meeting started 30 minutes ago," Mr. Adams glanced at the clock on the wall.

"I'm so sorry that I'm late. I had to stop and get a pair of shoes. I broke my shoe…." The woman slid into the chair beside him.

Daniel turned to their chair beside him. His and Betty's eyes met.

What was she doing here? That was the first question that popped into Daniel's mind.

"Anyway, Mr. Meade was just suggesting that we also suspend your daughter also." The principal turned his attention to Betty.

"Your daughter?" Daniel didn't understand. How could Betty have a daughter? And why did that hurt so much? How could something so important happen in her life and he would have no knowledge of it.

Wait a minute.

He just saw her less than an hour ago and she said she was visiting New York. Now, he finds out that she had a daughter in school….in New York.

Things were not adding up and Daniel was determined to get to the bottom of it. Perhaps, she was married and she was worried about what her husband would think being seen with the infamous Daniel Meade and someone that she had once been romantically linked to.

That was the only thing he could think of that would explain her hesitancy.

"Daniel…" She pulled her eyes away.

"Betty, I'm sorry. I didn't know that Isabella was your daughter." He said sincerely. However, this didn't change anything. Daniel couldn't let his job as Brandon's father get in the way of the way he felt about Betty.

"I take it that you two know each other," said Mr. Adams.

"Betty used to work for me." Daniel's eyes still locked on Betty. The atmosphere in the room was thick with tension.

Betty tore her eyes away from Daniel and looked at the principal and continued. "You can't suspend Isabella. She was only defending herself. She's innocent."

Daniel spoke up. "Well, now I know where she got her spunk from. She is a Suarez …for sure."

"Will you shut up, Daniel?" Betty snapped her head back towards Daniel sharply.

"No…" Daniel stood up and buttoned his jacket. "I'm not going to say that Brandon doesn't have his problem. He does but he isn't totally at fault here. I think Isabella needs to be punished too."

Betty stood up and crossed her arms, glancing up at him. "You have some nerve. He broke her glasses. He pulled her hair. She was provoked."

"Will you both sit down and shut up before I sent you both to detention?" The principal said loudly.

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	3. Chapter 3

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and all the comments. I really do appreciate it. _

**Chapter 3**

* * *

With Isabella's hand in hers, Betty stormed out of the principal's office and hurried through the halls of Kingsbury Academy towards the exit. She wanted to move quickly to get a head start before Daniel could have a catch up with her. The last things she wanted to do was talk to him right now, after he had made things worse and got Isabella suspended from school for five days.

"Mommy, you are moving too fast. I can't keep up and you are about to rip my arm off. Is the building on fire or something?" Isabella moved her little legs as fast as she could.

"No, honey! I just don't want us to miss the next bus."

"I want to go back to class," said Isabella.

"Next week, baby. Next week….or as soon as I can talk some sense into that hard-headed principal," said Betty.

"Is Brandon's Daddy hard-headed too?"

"Yes. Very much so." Betty turned down the hall that led to the exit, still keeping up the pace.

"What exactly is a first class moron anyway?" Isabella asked. "Did he go to school for that?

"Yes, sweetie. He took that class at Harvard."

Isabella's questions only made her think of Daniel more. And thinking of him was the last thing she wanted to do. The first thing she wanted to do was strangle him for putting her in this position.

Betty didn't know what she was going to do. Who was going to watch Isabella? With her father away visiting Elena's family and Hilda super busy at the salon, she knew her options were limited. It's not like she could afford Isabella's school tuition and a baby sitter for the entire week.

"Am I in trouble for getting in a fight with that stupid boy, Mommy?"

"That's not nice, Isabella." Betty stopped for a moment, as they reached the bottom of the steps outside the school. "You shouldn't call people stupid and no you aren't in trouble for standing up for yourself. You just need to do it without hitting."

"Betty!" Daniel rushed out of the school with Brandon close behind him. "Stop!"

Betty quickly grabbed Isabella's hand and picked up the pace down the sidewalk, towards the bus stop. She underestimated Daniel though because he quickly caught up with them, blocking their path. Brandon's eyes were fixed on her. It was starting to creep her out a little.

"Daniel, get out of our way."

"She looks like that picture on your…." Brandon broke into the conversation.

"Brandon, could you please go stand over there for a second? I need to talk to Ms. Suarez." Daniel gestured for Brandon to go wait near the edge of the school steps. He complied with his father's request.

"There is nothing to talk about." Betty said adamantly. "I just need you to move."

"Not until we talk about our kids." His hand reached out for her shoulder, resting there to keep her from moving forward.

"I think you've said enough for today, Daniel." Betty said harshly.

"Do you have to be so stubborn?" Daniel barked.

"Do you have to be so stupid?"

"Mommy, that's not nice…you just said." Isabella's little voice rang out.

"I know, sweetie." Betty looked down and took a deep breath. "I know what I said, but sometimes there are exceptions to every rule." Betty returns her eyes to Daniel's blue eyes.

_Eyes that were the same shade as Isabella's._

"How was I supposed to know that she was your daughter? I didn't even know you had a daughter or that you were in New York, especially when you just told me this morning that you were visiting. Would you like to explain that to me, Betty?"

"Where I live is none of your business. Plus, I didn't know you had a son either. So…I believe we are even then," said Betty heatedly. "So how is Michelle anyway? I see she didn't waste any time giving you that heir that you wanted. I know how eager she was."

"Michelle and I were over a long time, Betty. Anyway, you were the one that didn't want a commitment because your career was so important. I told you how I felt….you know what…" He laughed. "I really don't want to dig up the past."

"That didn't give you the right to date my assistant, Daniel." Betty snapped.

"You told me that you were okay with it. In fact, I remember you encouraging me to get back out there. I only dated her for a month," said Daniel. "I ended things once I got back to New York. You would have known that if you had bothered to stay in touch but you just dropped off the face of the earth or something. Your family wouldn't even return my calls. I ran into Hilda about three years ago in Macy's and she ran into the ladies room to get away from me."

"The phone works both ways, Daniel."

"Give me a break, Betty. Don't put this off on me."

"I already gave you a break, Daniel." Betty's heart hurt, as she glanced down at Isabella, who had let go of her hand. "We both got a clean break."

"Can we just stop talking about what happened in London? We can't change it. There is something more important right now. We need to talk about our kids."

He continued. "I can't afford for this happen again. Brandon has been through a lot in the last year. If he gets kicked out of this school, I am going to have no choice but to send him to a boarding school because no school here will let him in. And I really don't want to do that. I know how that feels and I don't want to put him through that.

"You and your wife can deal with Brandon," said Betty. "I'll take care of Isabella."

"I'm not married." He said sharply.

"You aren't but what about his mother? I'm sure she…"

"He's adopted. His parents died last year, Betty." Daniel said softly, moving closer to Betty so that Brandon couldn't overhear. "And I've been trying to do the best I can for him."

Betty's heart sank for Brandon, as she felt herself soften towards Daniel. The fact that he would take a child that wasn't his and try to give him a better life and also willing to fight for him, it only made Betty remember, what a wonderful father he was, just like he had been to DJ. It also filled her with guilt that she had selfishly stole that chance for him to be father to his own biological child.

He added, calmly. "Can we all go somewhere we can all talk? Perhaps, I can get you that cup of coffee." A glimmer of hope in his eyes that reminded of way he looked at her that first date in London. "I know a place just a few blocks from here."

"Daniel, I'm sorry but I can't help you solve your issues for you," said Betty. "Anyway, I'm late for work already and I've got to figure out how to tell my boss that my daughter has to come to work with me for the next five days because…."

Betty saw the bus coming down the street. She looked down and saw that Brandon was talking to Isabella. "Daniel, we have to go."

"Fine, if you won't take me up on the coffee. How about dinner at my house? You can bring your Isabella's father. We can all talk about this like adults."

"Isabella's father isn't in the picture."

"Oh…" A playful little grin crossed his face that made her heart jump a little.

She stared at him for a minute. She could see the determination in his eyes. She was about two seconds from making a full confession right there. "Daniel…"

"Just think about it. You have my number." He stepped toward her.

She walked over to Isabella and took her hand. She saw the town car pull up to the sidewalk. "I don't know."

There were so many reasons that she should say no. There were so many reasons that she should say yes.

"Betty, come on," said Daniel. "What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid of anything." Her voice shook and she looked away.

"Then prove it, Betty. Be at my house at 7 tonight for dinner."

"Daniel, I can't."

"Please…"

"I really can't. I have to work tonight," said Betty. "How about tomorrow night though?"

"Okay." He gestured towards the town car. "How about I give you two a ride?"

Betty shook his head. "We'll take the bus."

"I don't think so."

"We can't accept." She looked for the bus that was here only moments ago. "We'll just take the…."

"The bus left two minutes ago, Betty. Let me take you to work." He hurried over to the door and opened the door for them.

"Mommy, can we? I've never been in a town car before." Isabella looked up at her mother.

"Sure." She knew that she couldn't refuse. She needed to get to work and the next bus wouldn't be here for 20 minutes. The car would be quicker. She reasoned with herself.

"Yeah!" Isabella cheered, as she hurried into the back of the town car. The grin on Daniel's face told Betty that he was very pleased with Isabella's reaction and Betty's decision.

Maybe, this could be the first step in allowing Isabella getting to know her father. There was one thing that Betty knew and that was that she was not going to allow herself to fall for Daniel's charms.

That only lead to one thing and Isabella was proof of that.

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	4. Chapter 4

**The Ties That Bind**

Author's Note: Thank you for the comments and feedback. I appreciate it.

**Chapter 4**

* * *

What should have been a ten minute ride across the city had already ended up being over 30 minutes, thanks to the horrendous traffic. Betty and Daniel, along with the two kids that were situated between them, were sandwiched into the back of the town car.

Not the most comfortable circumstances.

The way that Daniel kept looking at her across the car had her starting to question her decision and wondered if they would have just been better off waiting for the bus.

Betty's cell phone rang. She really didn't want to answer it but she knew that she had no choice when she saw that it was her boss. She reluctantly answered the phone.

"Betty Suarez." She held the phone to her ear and shot her eyes to the other side of the cab, where she noticed Daniel's fixed on her once again. She quickly looked away, as she listened to her boss asking where she was and why she didn't have those book reviews and the article done that he had asked her about two weeks earlier.

"I'll be there soon and I'm still trying to track down the author of those books. No one seems to know who they are or at last, they aren't telling me. I've hit a brick wall."

She listened to her boss telling her that there was no excuse. He hired her because she was good at doing the impossible. She would be lucky to finish one of the four books in the series.

As she hung up, she realized that her days of running a magazine seemed like a million years ago. She was lucky to have this job though. Jobs were hard to come by these days, especially in the publishing business.

"Anything that I can help with?" Daniel offered.

"No." She shook her head, as she looked out the window. "I'll figure it out."

"You usually do." He looked back out the window. She gazed at him this time, wondering if she would ever be able to look at him without feeling some guilt. She wanted that. Betty wanted things to be uncomplicated, just like they had been before she had left for London and before sex had changed everything.

She finally tore her eyes away from Daniel's handsome profile and glanced down to see Isabella holding her spare pair of glasses in her little hand.

The arm of her glasses were broken.

"Mommy, these are broken too. Can we go get them fixed?"

"Well…" Betty reached into her bag. "No…but I think I have just the thing to fix it until we do."

She reaches in her purse and took out some tape. She took the glasses and attempted the repairs right there. There was no way she could afford new glasses or get the spare pair fixed right now.

"Betty…" Daniel gave her an inquisitive look. She stopped and glanced up at him. "You know that is going to work for about two seconds."

"I'm kind of limited on options right now. If you can think of a better way, here you go, Mr. Smart Guy." She held out the glasses for Daniel and he took them.

"Mr. Meade, can you fix them?" Isabella gazed up at Daniel. He smiled down at her and then looked back up at Betty.

"Actually, I have a better idea. How about I take Isabella to get some new glasses? After all, it was Brandon who broke her good pair."

She shook her head gently. "I…I don't think that's a good idea." Betty felt the car come to a stop. They had arrived at their destination.

_Not a moment too soon either._

Betty held hand out. "Give me the glasses back."

"No. I'm not." Daniel said defensively. He pulled his hand away and the glasses out of her reach.

"I don't really have time for this, Daniel. I'll go get the glasses fixed when I get a break this afternoon." She continued to hold out her hand.

"Or you could just let me take Isabella to get a new pair or two. Just give me her doctor's name and I'll take care of it. "

"No, Daniel."

"Yes." He answered back.

"No." Betty let out a sigh of frustration.

"Yes, Betty."

"Yes…Mommy. I can't see without them." Isabella tugged on Betty's sleeve.

Betty knew that was the truth. Isabella's vision was horrible, just like hers. Why couldn't she have inherited Daniel's perfect vision?

"Come on, Isabella." Betty started out of the car and opened the door.

"Isabella, stay here while I talk to your mommy." Daniel gave her a reassuring smile.

"Okay." Isabella said with a huge smile that told Betty that her daughter would likely follow Daniel anywhere.

"I need both of you to behave and don't give the driver a hard time." Daniel ordered. "Promise?"

"Yes." Both Isabella and Brandon replied. Betty shook her head in disbelief. It was hard to believe that less than an hour ago, she and Daniel had been in the principal's office because these two little angels had been little devils.

As she exited the car and made her way onto the sidewalk, she stepped in front of Daniel and crossed her arms.

"She needs to come with me." She looked up at Daniel.

"Work is no place for a little girl. You obviously have other things to do…deadlines to make."

"She doesn't even know you," said Betty.

"This might be true….but Betty, you and I have known each other for a long time. You know that I'll take care of her like she were my own."

"Uh…" Betty pulled her eyes away from Daniel's afraid that he would see the truth. "I….uh…Daniel, it's not that. It's just…."

"You can't think of a good reason, can you?" He asked.

"What about Brandon? They could end up fighting."

"Actually, I think that it is a good opportunity for them to try to get along. You saw that they haven't fought once since we left the school." Daniel pointed out.

"I guess you might have a point. If they get along outside of school, maybe we won't have a problem with them fighting in school." Betty paused for a moment. "Two kids, Daniel. It's a lot different than one."

"I can handle it. I'll just take the rest of the day off. We will go get some new glasses for Isabella and then I'll take them back to my townhouse, have some lunch and make them do their homework," said Daniel. "So…what do you say?"

"Fine…but I'm going to pay you for the glasses as soon as I can." Betty pulled out her phone. "I'll call them and tell them that you are bringing her in."

Daniel grinned proudly. "Just text me the address."

"I'll also call Hilda and have her pick up Isabella when she gets done at the salon." Betty moved to the car to say good-bye to Isabella and tell her to be good for Daniel.

Once she was done, she turned around to see Daniel standing right behind her. She was face to face with him.

"Are you still going to come over for dinner tomorrow night?" He asked, as he made no attempts to move away from her.

"Yes." She knew that she really didn't have a choice here. The little girl inside the car was Daniel's daughter and he deserved to get to know her and Isabella deserve to get to know Daniel.

Betty just hoped that she would be able to find the time tomorrow night to talk to him and get him to understand the reasons why she did what she did.

The truth was though. All her reasons weren't valid anymore. They were wrong and they were selfish. There was no excuse for what she did. In fact, she hated herself for what she did.

The only thing that she could hope for right now was that she would find a way to tell him before he figured it out.

Daniel wasn't stupid. It was only a matter of time before he realized that Isabella had his blue eyes and that her birthday was almost nine months after the night of Betty's launch party.

"Good." He said a little bit too enthusiastically.

"You sound happy."

"Well, I have to be honest. I thought you might change your mind, especially after the way this day has turned out." He confessed.

"No. I think that it's time that we find a way to get along and play nice again," said Betty. "After all, if we can't get along, we aren't exactly setting a good example for our children."

"I'm willing to try, if you are." Daniel's eyes simmered with hope. She could see that there were still some left over feelings there. Of course, Betty knew that it would be unfair of her to act on it. After all, she was not what he deserved and soon enough, he would know what she had done.

"I guess all we can do is try and see what happens," said Betty.

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	5. Chapter 5

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: This is a short chapter. I just couldn't keep it to myself. I just loved it. It was actually supposed to be part of the last chapter but didn't get it done in time._

**Chapter 5**

It was almost 7:30 when Daniel and the two kids walked into the pizza place that he knew well. His eyes shot across the room to the table for two that he and Betty had shared shortly after she had become his assistant. The place looked like it had been frozen in time.

Everything was exactly the same. Yet, he and Betty were so different now. If he had one wish, it would be that they both could go back and start again. Perhaps then, things would be better between them.

But there was hope on the horizon. Or at least, Daniel wanted to think so. Betty trusted him with her daughter for the day and she had agreed to the dinner tomorrow night. This was progress.

"I can't believe the fire department showed up. That was awesome," Brandon sat across the table from Daniel.

"I can't wait to tell my mommy." Isabella giggled.

"Actually, let's not tell your mother that I tried to burn down the house….or that I don't know how to cook." Daniel chuckled. "She might not let me take care of you anymore."

She leaned against his arm and gazed up at him adorningly "Thank you for my glasses, Daniel."

"You look very pretty, Isabella." His heart felt like it was going to just melt looking at her. Every time, he looked at her. He just couldn't help but see a small version of Betty. "Doesn't she, Brandon?"

"For a girl." Brandon shrugged his shoulders. "I guess."

"The doctor told me that my eyes are almost as blue as yours." As Isabella lifted her blue eyes to him, he had to admit that they were just like his.

"Yes. I guess they are." How could she have eyes just like him? That would be impossible. He shook that thought away. There was no way that Betty would keep something like that from him.

"Are we going to eat sometime today?" Brandon tried to take the menu from him.

"Uh…yeah." Daniel opened the menu. "So what's it going to be?"

"Pizza…." The two kids called out.

"I want peperoni…" Brandon commented.

"I hate peperoni." Isabella made a face. "I like mushrooms."

"Yuck!" Brandon stuck out his tongue. "I want green peppers."

"I'm allergic to green peppers." Isabella said, as she played with salt shaker.

"Me too." Daniel took another look at the little girl. "I guess we can get half peperoni and half mushroom."

The thoughts that he tried to push away were there once again. Could Isabella be his daughter? Oh my god! She really could be. He knew that he needed to talk to Betty about this. He needed her to tell him that there was no possible way that Isabella could be his daughter. Not that he didn't want that…she was a perfect little girl.

There could be a lot of explanations. Betty could have been involved with another blue eyed man in London. He wouldn't know because he and Betty hadn't talked in years. That had to be it because Betty would never keep something like this from him.

_Never. _

No matter how hurt she had been. She knew how much he wanted to be a father. Keeping something like that from him would have been cruel and unforgiveable.

"Okay….now, if we can just find a waitress." Daniel commented as he looked around.

"Mommy and I come here all the time," said Isabella. "She loves it here."

"I remember." Daniel said. "She used to make me sing karaoke."

"Oh….can we?" Isabella said gleefully. "Please. I want to sing the song from Beauty and the Beast."

Daniel chuckled. "Maybe after dinner."

"Okay…" Isabella pouted. Suddenly, Daniel saw Isabella's eyes float upwards. "Mommy!"

Daniel turned to see Betty walking towards them. She stopped a few feet from the table. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We were hungry and Dad tried to burn down the house." Brandon remarked, sarcastically.

"I got to sit in the fire truck, Mommy." Isabella said happily.

"Fire…" Betty's eyes grew wide.

"There was no fire…," said Daniel. "Okay..it was a small fire but I put it out."

"Oh…well. That's good." Betty seemed to settle down a bit, as she stuck her pen in her apron pocket.

Daniel looked at Betty, up and down. "What are you doing here? I thought you had to work."

"Daniel, I am working."

"You work here."

"Yes…now can I take your order?" Betty asked.

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	6. Chapter 6

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and all the comments. They keep me going….so thank you._

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Despite Betty's protests, Daniel told her they would wait until she got off work, so that he could make sure that she and Isabella got home safely. He didn't like the idea of them going home to an empty house, alone.

While they ate their dinner and Isabella worked her way through every Disney song in the karaoke catalog. Daniel watched Betty work. Though, he tried not to be obviously. He couldn't help it.

She was even more beautiful than she had been seven years ago. He loved her then and he never stopped. Every woman that he met could never measure up to the one that he let get away and thus most of his dates never made it past the first date and the few relationship he had, never made it past the two months.

As the clock approached 9:30, Daniel saw Betty approaching the table with a two cup and a coffee pot. He glanced over at the two children fast asleep on the booth sounds asleep.

She placed the cup down in front of him and filled it. Then, she did the same for herself, before taking a seat across the table.

For a moment, they just sat there in silence.

"Thank you for taking care of Isabella today." Betty lifted the cup to her full lips.

"It was no problem. We had a good day. I mean, I tried not to make it too fun because they were both in trouble," said Daniel. "Hilda was swamped at the salon and it wasn't like I had anything else to do."

He added. "It was great. She is so much like you, Betty. She just lights up a room when she walks in it. Everyone we came across seemed to just fall in love with her."

"Including you?" Betty lifted her eyes to meet his.

"Yeah. Having her around is great."

"And the kids seem to be getting along," said Betty. "That's promising."

"Maybe we should go talk to that principal tomorrow morning and try to get them back in school. Perhaps, show that we can work as a team again…for our kids. I can tell you that Brandon really can't afford to miss any more days. He's already behind."

"I agree. I honestly can't depend on you or Hilda to watch Isabella all day and I surely can't afford a baby sitter," said Betty. "I think that sounds like a plan."

Daniel lets out a chuckle and gave her a shy grin.

"What?" She smiles. It wasn't until that second that he realize how much he missed that smile. Her beautiful smile.

"It's amazing. We were ready to kill each other this morning and now…."

"Kind of like old times….except now, each of us is a parent."

"Something like that." Daniel couldn't even put his finger on this sense of incredibility. "Before we try to kill each other again, Betty….I just have to say that I really have missed you."

He figured that he should keep it simple. Not confession that he had been carrying a torch for her for seven long….very long years. And it probably wasn't a good time to mention that he had kept her photo on his desk and she had been the inspiration for his novels. No…that would be too much for sure.

"I missed you too and I'm sorry about that I gave you a hard time about dating Michelle. I didn't have a right to say that. You were right. I did tell you to get back out there. I'm the one that refused you." She said in a regretful tone. "In fact, there are a lot of things that I wish I could change."

Daniel wanted to press her further about that but he also knew better than to push Betty, just when she started to open up. Because he wanted her to open up more, he would be patient though. He had waited seven years for this day and he was not going to ruin it now.

It was time to change the subject and talk about something other than them. Talking about them was only going to lead to a fight. That was the last thing he wanted.

"So…how long have you worked here?" Daniel asked, as he gazed at Betty across the table.

"Since a week after we got back from London….so about six months, I guess." He could tell that Betty was trying to hide embarrassment.

"Working two jobs to make ends meet that has to be tough."

"I only need the day job. I use the night job to pay for Isabella's tuition at Kingsbury Academy," Betty admitted, as she glanced over to see both Brandon and Isabella asleep on large corner booth. "I want her to get a good education."

She added. "I'm hoping to get a better day job soon, so I don't have to work both. I hate being away from Isabella so much but I have to do what I have to do. It's what I've always done since she was born."

Betty's comments were haunting Daniel. Where was Isabella's father? He couldn't shake this feeling that there might be a possibility that the sleeping little girl shared his DNA. No man in his right mind...that knew about the amazing little girl would walk away from her.

He knew he had to find an answer. Otherwise, the question was going to keep coming up. Of course, he also knew that accusing Betty of hiding his child from him would be a sure way of losing her. If he said something and he was wrong, it could be disastrous. He could lose any chance he had with Betty. He would just have to find another way to find the answer to his question and just brace himself for whatever he might find out.

* * *

The sight of Daniel carrying a sleeping Isabella up the stairs to her room was enough to puncture Betty's heart. Brandon sat on the couch, still sleepy from the ride over.

"Buddy, just wait there! I'll be right back." Daniel said to his son, as stood on the landing of the stairs.

"Okay." Brandon rested his head against the pillow. Betty could tell that there was a good chance the boy would be asleep before Daniel returned downstairs.

Betty followed Daniel upstairs to the room that used to be Justin's. The one that she done her best to decorate in a princess theme on her limited budget.

"Just put her on the bed. I'll go get her pajamas," said Betty.

"Okay…"

Betty watched Daniel leaned down and kissed the little girl on the forehead. It was very clear by his words early and his actions that Isabella had already found her way into her father's heart.

He turned to leave, meeting Betty in the doorway. "Well, I guess I'll see you in the morning." They moved into the hallway, as not to wake Isabella.

"Actually, I have a meeting in the morning. Do you think that we could go on Thursday morning?" Betty knew that Isabella needed to get back to school but she also remember her boss's speech about her erratic schedule.

"Sure…we had the kids out kind of late anyway. I'll call Mr. Adams and make an appointment for Thursday."

"Thank you, Daniel." She rested her hand on his chest.

"How about I pick up Isabella in the morning and she can come spend the day with us. Then, you can just come over when you get done with work? We can have dinner waiting for you."

"Maybe, take out would be better. After all, we don't want to involve the fire department this time," said Betty playfully.

"Funny." Daniel chuckled. "I never said I was the best cook."

"Well, maybe we could cook together…." Betty lifted her eyes to his. Her face burned, as she thought how hot he was…and how they could cook together.

_Stop it, Betty! _

"That sounds promising." He lifted an eyebrow.

"Uhh…yeah." She needed to change the subject before she did something really stupid like rip his shirt open and that would just be wrong. "Daniel, you don't have to watch Isabella. Hilda…"

"I won't take no for an answer, Betty." He stared into her eyes and suddenly, it might as well have been seven year ago. He poured his heart out to her that night. The night they made love…and the night that Isabella was conceived.

"Okay." She shook her head. Her eyes focused on his lips, as she willed herself to pull away from him. She was drawn to him though. She couldn't help it. No matter how hard she fought it, she found herself defenseless against his charms.

Of course, she knew they couldn't cross that line. There was no future here for them. That ship had sail. No matter how attract she was to him. He would never want a future with her once he knew what she had done.

So…it was decided right there in the hallway of the house she had grown up in. Tomorrow night she would find the time to get him alone and they would talk about. Hopefully, they could find a way to get through this. The most important thing was Isabella…and not them. The last thing that Isabella needed to get stuck in custody battle.

"Okay." Daniel murmured, as he seemed to be moving closer to her. She knew that she should pull away but she was helpless.

"Mommy…" A little voice called out.

They both turned to see Isabella standing in the hallway. Her sleepy eyes gazing up at both of them,

"I forgot to brush my teeth." She rubbed her eyes.

"Oh…of course." Betty could feel her face flush with warmth.

"Daniel, could you help her? I need to run downstairs and get her pajamas," said Betty.

"Sure…" He agreed. He turned to leave but not before giving her a look that told Betty that he wanted to finish what was about to happen.

"Come Bella. We need to brush those teeth." Daniel followed Isabella down the hall. She took his large hand in her little one.

As Betty watched them, she let out a sigh.

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	7. Chapter 7

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I appreciate them as always. You guys inspire me to keep writing these stories and you support means to the world to me._

**Chapter 7**

* * *

Hilda sat in Betty's small office. Betty's desk was covered with books. She was almost sure that if there was an avalanche. It would take them a month to dig her body out of the pile of books on top of her.

"I came here to have lunch with you. Not sit here all day." Hilda flipped through the first book in the series of books written and scanned some of the pages. "Oh….can I borrow this? This is hot…" Her eyes were drawn to the page.

Betty knew the feeling because she had made her way through the entire book in a matter of hours. The first book was about the womanizing ways of the main character, Dante. For the first 100 pages, Betty knew that she was just going to hate this book but as she continued on. She found that he was just misunderstood and beneath his good looks and charm. He had a heart. The only person that seemed to understand him was his assistant Antoinette. From the moment, Antoinette showed up. Dante's true heart began to come out and their friendship began to bloom.

"Sure. I'm done with it; just bring it back because I might need to read it again."

"It's that good." Hilda was intrigued.

"Oh yes…" She lifted her eyes away. "I just started the second book. I won't spoil it for you but it kind of reminds me of Daniel and I….back in our MODE days…that is if we had been sleeping together back then."

Betty was dying to know what happened next too. Then, Hilda showed up and she had to stop reading. Why do people always have to interrupt when you get to the good part of a good book? She was very eager to get back to it.

Would Dante and Antoinette ever admit their feelings for each other? Could she ever get passed his past?

Again…that was something that Betty could totally relate too because there was a time when she had felt that way about Daniel. It was like this person knew them and had crawled inside their heads.

"What are Daniel and the kids up to today?" Hilda asked curiously.

"Daniel took them out for breakfast…and then the museum. He figured they might as well do something educational since they didn't go to school." Betty focused on her computer, trying to find out as much about the author that she was trying to track down and was having no luck. "And then grocery shopping for dinner tonight."

"Well, aren't you guys just the perfect little family already?" Hilda said curiously, as she closed the book and shoved it in her oversized purse. "That didn't take long."

Betty peeled her eyes away from the computer screen, knowing at this rate she was never going to track down the infamous Maggie Daniels, that no one had been able to get an interview with since her books were published.

"We are just having dinner at his house. We are not a family."

"You are a family. You share a child together."

"Hilda, it's complicated."

"Doesn't seem like it?" Hilda gave her a smirk that told Betty that Hilda had made herself very unavailable to take care of Isabella yesterday, so that Daniel could.

"You didn't pick Isabella up from Daniel's yesterday on purpose." Betty snapped.

"Maybe…and maybe not."

"Quit interfering, Hilda. This is…."

"Between you and Daniel? Ha! Whatever!" Hilda chuckled and waved her hand in the air. "Betty, I'm just saying someone has to interfere a little. You …."

"I'm going to tell him tonight." Betty said abruptly.

"Finally! You are talking like you have brain." Hilda threw her head back. "Thank God."

Hilda continued. "How are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know yet." She pulled her eyes away. "I just know that I can't keep it from him any longer because I see that Isabella has just already worked her way into his heart….and he into hers. I've already stole enough from Daniel. He doesn't deserve to miss out on anything more of her life."

"What about the two of you? Is there any spark left?"

"I…Hilda…I don't even care about that right now. The most important thing is Isabella. My needs aren't really part of the equation." Betty was growing more and more frustrated. "I'm sure the last thing that Daniel is going to want to do is re-kindle anything with me once he finds out the truth."

"But you want him too. I can tell." Hilda said.

* * *

Daniel couldn't believe that he had sunk so low. He knew what he had done was wrong, as soon as he did it. He had invaded Betty's privacy last night when he had extracted Isabella's toothbrush from the upstairs bathroom at the Suarez house on a trip to the bathroom before he and Brandon headed home for the evening

First this morning, he had taken the sample to a lab and put a rush on it. He never expected that a little bit of money would get him the results this fast.

But it did.

Now, he found himself so riddled with guilt that he couldn't bring himself to open it. It had been in the same place that he had left it since it was delivered about an hour before Betty had arrived for dinner.

_On the fireplace mantle._

"Dinner was great." Betty helped him bring the dishes back into the kitchen. "You did a great job and the fire department didn't even have to be called this time." She giggled.

Daniel heard the kids running up the stairs and he knew that he needed to come clean about his thoughts about Isabella's paternity and what he had done, now that he and Betty were alone.

Deep inside, he wanted Isabella to be his, even though it would mean that Betty lied to him. And it hurt that Betty would hide something like this from him...and if that were the case, he didn't know how he would deal with it.

Regardless, he knew that the idea that Isabella might be his daughter was not going to just go away. She had his eyes. She was allergic to some of the same foods that he was.

"I guess since you cooked. I get to do the dishes," said Betty.

"Actually, I think they can wait…We need to talk." Daniel moved closer.

Betty lifted her eyes to his and nodded. "We do but…."

He moved to lead her into the living room. She pulled him back though. He turned towards her.

"Daniel…." She didn't move from her spot. Her eyes aimed towards the ground.

"Betty…what?" He said softly. He still held onto her hand.

"Daniel..," She lifted her head and before he knew it, her lips were against his. Daniel found himself lost in the moment. Seven years was way too long not to feel the way the Betty made him feel. In an instant, he felt that rush of wonderment that she was here….and though things were probably very complicated. He just wanted to relish this moment.

This perfect moment...before everything changed for them again.

He pulled away. Yet, he still held her close to him. "We need to talk, Betty."

"Okay." She nodded her head and released her hold on him. He led her into the living room and sat her down on the couch.

He remained standing. "I know that things are really complicated, Betty. In the last two days, we were just thrown together in this situation. I can't help but thing that it was fate that brought us back together."

"Yeah." She said in almost a whisper.

"And I have to confess that the more time I spent with Isabella, the more I want to believe that she's…."

"What?" Betty's eyes were fixed on him. He couldn't read her expression.

"I think she's my daughter."

"Daniel…" Betty stood up and moved across the room and met him in front of the fireplace. "Let me explain."

"Just wait…I tried not to think that you would do something like keeping me from her but there were so many things that made me keep wondering that I just had to find out the truth."

"You could have just asked me." Betty crossed her arms.

"I know." Daniel grabbed the envelope off the mantel. "I had a paternity test run today."

"You what?" Betty snapped. "How?"

"I took Isabella's toothbrush."

"You stole her toothbrush? I wondered where it went to," Betty was fuming and he was starting to wonder whether her fury was another indication of her guilt.

"So…it's true?" Daniel asked. "She's my daughter."

Betty turned around and remained silent. The longer she remained silent, the angrier that he got. He ripped open the envelope and pulled out the piece of paper that was neatly folded inside.

As he read the results, his heart sunk low, heavy with disappointment. This is not what he had expected at all.

"She's not mine." He found himself barely about to utter those three words, as he actually fought to hold back the tears.

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	8. Chapter 8

**The Ties That Bind**

Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I figured I would give you another chapter here before moving back to do a chapter of my other story.

**Chapter 8**

* * *

Betty didn't know what had caught her more off-guard; the fact that Daniel had acquire his own sample of Isabella's DNA and had a DNA test performed without her knowledge or the fact that she had just heard him say that piece of paper in his hand said that Isabella was not his daughter.

There has never been a doubt in Betty's mind since the day she found out she was pregnant exactly who the father of Isabella was. How could this be possible? There had to be a mistake somewhere. Betty was 100% positive, without a doubt that Daniel was the father of her daughter because there had been no other man in her life at that point.

The silence hung over them. She didn't know what to say. He obviously didn't know what to say either. Betty couldn't even bring herself to turn around and face him because she knew without a doubt what she would find there. She would the spark in his eye that he had earlier when he and the kids talked about their trip to the museum, replaced by disappointment. She didn't need to see it because that disappointment was there in his voice, when he uttered those words that he had not expected.

"God…how could I be so stupid, Betty? I mean what are the odds that she could be mine. We were only together…" She heard the sound of paper crinkling up in his fist, as she felt a tear well up in the corner of her eyes.

"Once." Betty said in almost a whisper, as she turned to face him.

"Actually, it was just one night but if you remember, it was more than once."

_Yes. Betty remembered. She remembered very well._

She turned around just in time to see Daniel toss the piece of paper in the fireplace and glance back over at her. His eyes were wet with tears and regret.

"Daniel…" She moved towards him to give him some kind of comfort. She felt the urge to wrap arms around him and tell him that the test was wrong and that the beautiful little girl with the blue eyes was theirs, just like he had thought.

As she met him in front of the fireplace, he lifted his eyes to hers. "Look, Betty. I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about." She shook her head as she reached forward to touch him, to get him to look at her. "You were following your instincts."

"I should never have invaded your privacy. I just was so sure…" Daniel's voice was hoarse and raw with emotion. His eyes turned away from her.

Betty knew that she needed to make a choice. This was the moment of truth. She could easily tell Daniel a story that covered the fact that she had lied to him. A story about how she met Isabella's father, shortly after his return to New York.

That story though would be a lie…on top of another lie. Just another lie that would eat away at her for the rest of her life and consume her.

She couldn't do that. Daniel was an amazing father. If anyone deserved to be Isabella's parent, it was him. She had been the one that had lied and kept her hidden far away from the one person that should have known of Isabella's existence before anyone else.

Betty knew that she had to do something because the longer she looked at a broken down Daniel, the longer she could see how hard he was trying to not show his disappointment and it was apparent how he had already built up the idea that Isabella was his daughter in his mind. So much, he had become desperate to find the answer.

Finally, she moved forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. She brought lips to his gently until they heard the thunder of footsteps coming down the stairway. They broke apart as they two kids came rushing into the room.

"Mommy, look what Brandon showed me," Isabella held up the gold frame. Betty took it. It was a photo of her at her launch party, dressed in the long emerald gown, on Daniel's arm. "You looked so pretty, Mommy."

"She was beautiful." Daniel added.

"Dad, why do you have a photo of her on your desk?" Brandon asked.

"I….uh...Brandon, why don't you go show Isabella your video games? I need to talk to Betty."

"But Dad…." Daniel gave Brandon a look and it was clear that Brandon knew that Daniel meant business. It was also apparent that Daniel didn't want to give the reason for the photo's constant presence on his desk.

"Okay." Brandon said, as he and Isabella ran back out.

"And no running." Daniel said loudly. The sounds of slowing footsteps climbed the stairs once again.

Betty clutched onto the photo in her hands. Her eyes studied it, wishing that they could go back to that night. Not to change anything about that night but to live it again.

The way that Daniel was looking at her in that photo made Betty wonder why she had been so afraid back then. It was obvious that Daniel loved her. Why couldn't she have just jumped head first? Instead, she had backed off and said she didn't want a commitment and that her career needed to be her focus. It seemed safer that way.

That career that she wanted so badly had crumbled. If she had chosen Daniel, there was no doubt that he still would have been beside her.

"You are a great dad." She lifted her eyes to his.

"I do the best I can. Brandon is a handful sometimes but he's a good kid."

"So, what made you adopt?" Betty asked bluntly.

"I wasn't something I really planned. His father was a good friend from Harvard. After he, his wife and Brandon's little sister died, no one wanted to take him because he was….what they said….was too much trouble."

"That's horrible." She placed the photo on the mantel.

"Anyway, I just hated that because I have so much and no one to share it with and no children of my own. So I adopted him," said Daniel.

Betty's guilt began to boil up again. Daniel had wanted to be a father so much that he adopted a child that needed someone to love them.

"You are a wonderful man, Daniel." She closed the distance.

"Even after what I did?"

"Yes."

"You aren't mad?"

Betty wrapped her arms around his neck, once again. "No."

Daniel grinned. His expression told her that he was pleased with her answer. He leaned forward, kissing her.

When he broke away, he still held her close and Betty never wanted him to let her go either. Still, there was the truth that had to be revealed.

"I'm glad that Isabella and Brandon are getting along now," said Betty.

"I'm glad because I am kind of hoping that we can all start spending some more time together," said Daniel.

"Really."

"I figured we could take the kids to the zoo on Saturday and then we could take them to my mom and I could take you out," said Daniel.

"Take me out?" Betty felt her heart beat speed up.

"On a date, Betty." Daniel chuckled. It must have been the awestruck expression on her face. Then again, it should as such a surprise. After all, they had already kissed twice…just tonight.

He continued. "Yes. Betty, I'm so glad that I found you again and that you are Isabella are in our life. I can't stay that I'm not disappointed that Isabella isn't my daughter but it doesn't matter because she is your daughter and I love you. I always have."

"Daniel, I don't know what to say." She pulled her eyes away.

"Just tell me that you will give me the chance to prove myself," said Daniel.

"I'm the one that should have to prove myself, Daniel. Not you." She said sadly.

"What are you talking about? Betty, you are an amazing woman. I would be lucky to have you in my life. I was the fool for giving up on you so easily. If I hadn't, perhaps, I would have been Isabella's father."

Betty knew that she couldn't hold back anymore. This was it.

"Well, she does have your eyes." Betty said softly. She looked up at him, as if she willed him to know what she had known for so long.

He laughed. "Nice try. As much as I wish that were true. It's impossible."

"It's not impossible, Daniel." She said bluntly.

"What?" He obviously didn't understand.

"Daniel, I don't know why the test said that she wasn't your daughter but I've always known that she was."

"She's my daughter?" He let go of her, as if she were on fire.

"Yes."

The happiness that she had seen in his eyes moments earlier as he talked about spending time with her was gone now. The look he gave her was the one that she knew had been coming for years.

"Why? Why didn't you…." He stopped, unable to continue. He turned his eyes away from her. "I can't even look at you now."

"Daniel, let's just talk about this, please."

"You have had seven years to talk, Betty."

"Daniel, let me explain…" She said desperate. In the midst of her thought, she heard a little girl scream coming from upstairs.

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	9. Chapter 9

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I appreciate it._

**Chapter 9**

* * *

Daniel let out a sigh of relief when he managed to find Brandon's pet spider, Harry, underneath Brandon's bed and put him back where he belonged. The last thing Daniel wanted was for that spider to be crawling around the house in the night. It was a enough to keep him up at night.

As Daniel placed the lid back on the aquarium, he glanced over at Brandon, who was sitting on the side of the bed. Brandon's sad brown eyes gazed up at Daniel.

"You okay?" Daniel sat down next to him.

"I didn't mean to scare her. I just wanted to show her." The brown haired little boy lifted his eyes to Daniel's.

"I know but girls really don't like spiders, Buddy." Daniel grinned and took a seat beside him. "In fact, I'm not a big fan of them either."

"I know." Brandon nodded.

"I'm just glad that we found him. I don't think I would have slept tonight if we didn't."

Brandon finally smiled. "Dad, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. Anything."

"Is Isabella's mother going to be my new mother?" Brandon asked curiously.

Daniel honestly didn't know how to answer that. Right now, the only thing that could describe the situation was complicated. Daniel, himself, didn't even understand it. To explain it to Brandon would be even more complicated.

The hardest part of this all was the years that he had spent loving Betty, despite the distance between them. He loved her so much that his novels had revolved around her- stolen parts of their life was on the pages for the whole world to read.

Now, it was different though. The woman that he had built up in his mind had been hiding the fact that they had a daughter together all these years.

There were so many emotions that Daniel was experiencing right now. He was ecstatic that his instincts had been correct and that Isabella was his daughter. He was baffled about why the DNA test had said she wasn't. There must have been a mistake somewhere.

He was sad that he had missed so much of her life. Isabella's birth, her first steps, her first words had all been stolen from him but the woman he loved more than any other.

The more that Daniel thought about it, the angrier than he became. He couldn't believe that Betty would keep this from him, especially when she knew how much he wanted to be a father.

Yes. There was a lot of talking that was going to have to take place. There were question that were going to had to be answered. In fact, he was pretty sure that if Brandon hadn't scared Isabella with his spider, he would have said a lot of things to Betty that he might regret later.

Tonight was not the night to talk about this and as soon as he got back downstairs, he was calling the town car to take Betty and Isabella back to Queens before he could say something that would only make things worse, if that was even possible.

"I don't know." Daniel said simply. It was the truth. Daniel didn't know what the future would hold. Right now, he couldn't see any way past the truth that had been revealed to him tonight. The hurt was too great.

"I hope so." Brandon said.

X

* * *

Betty held Isabella's hand as they made their way down the front steps of Daniel's house to the waiting town car. Daniel was close behind. She could feel his eyes on her, as she listened to Isabella rattle on about how scary the spider had been. Her little imagination had made it five times bigger than it really was.

"Mommy, the spider was gigantic. It was bigger than my hand."

Betty laughed. "I'm sure that it was, sweetie."

"It was. You don't believe me," said Isabella.

"Of course, I believe you," said Betty. "Now get in the car. I need to talk to Dad…I mean, Daniel."

Isabella turned around and rushed back over towards Daniel. He quickly lowered to her level to accept the hug that Isabella was determined to give him.

As Daniel hugged their daughter, he looked over her the little girls shoulder and directly at Betty. What Betty saw there was a mixture of emotions in his eyes. Mostly, she saw how hurt that he had been that she had kept such a secret from him.

In fact, it seemed impossible that just a short while ago, Daniel had been talking about the possibility of a future together. Betty had actually fooled herself into believing that could happen. It was apparent that now that chance was gone. She and Daniel were never going to get past this. It was clear.

"Are we still going to the zoo on Saturday?" Isabella asked Daniel.

"Yes. We are….and I'll pick you up after school tomorrow." Daniel glanced up at Betty again. Betty knew that she had no right to protest anything that Daniel wanted.

"I get to go back to school tomorrow." Isabella said happily.

"Me and Mommy will take care of it. We'll make sure of it." Daniel gave her a reassuring smile. "You and Brandon just have to behave. No more fights at school."

"I promise. I promise." She hugged him again enthusiastically. "I love you, Daniel."

Betty could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. The connection between Isabella and Daniel was so obvious. No wonder he knew that she was his daughter without being told.

"Isabella, we need to get home. It's getting late." Betty crossed her arms, as she watched Isabella hug Daniel one more time and then get into the back seat of the town car. Betty closed the door and stepped towards Daniel. Her hands were shaking and her heart was beating speed up the closer she got to him. Her mind raced with trying to figure out what to say to him.

"Daniel, I need you to let me explain."

"I really don't want to hear it, Betty. You kept her away from me." Daniel tried to keep his words calm and resist yelling for Isabella's sake. "How could you do that?"

"I was trying to protect her." Betty knew that was a horrible answer.

_The wrong answer._

"From me?" Daniel narrowed his eyes. "Why would you protect her from me? That make no sense. You know how much I wanted to be a father."

"I know." Betty pulled her eyes away.

Daniel's eyes were dark. The blue had practically disappeared. "Apparently not, Betty."

"I'm sorry." She said softly. "I don't know what you want me to say."

"You stole her away from me. All the years that I lost. All the things I missed. Those are things that I'll never get back," said Daniel.

"You can make up them now. I won't keep her from you. You can spend as much time with her as you want," said Betty.

"That's so generous of you, Betty." He said harshly. "Letting me spend time with my daughter."

"It's not like that Daniel. We need to talk about this," said Betty. "Rationally."

"The time for talking is over, Betty. I told you that and I meant it," said Daniel.

"Daniel…"

"You know what the shame of this is. If you had been honest with me and told me that you were pregnant, I would have come back to London and we would probably be married now because I never stopped loving you. I only let you go because you said that you wanted to concentrate on your career. I wanted to make you happy. I thought a career was what you wanted….so I tried to move on but…

"And you dated my assistant, Daniel," said Betty. "Less than a week after I told you that I wanted to concentrate on the magazine, the two of you were in the tabloids going into her flat."

"Don't put this off on me, Betty. There is nothing you can say that is going to make up for not telling me about the baby. Anyway, not that it is your business but Michelle and I were never involved, if you had asked either one of us that we would have told you that.

He added. "We went to dinner once. She knew that I was in love with you. We were nothing more than friends,"

"What?" Betty felt like she couldn't breathe.

"I guess we all have our secrets," said Daniel. "Not anymore though. I spent seven years of my life still in love with you. No woman could come even close to you. Now I find out that the woman that I fell in love with never really existed except in my imagination. The Betty Suarez that crashed into my life is gone."

"I'm still here. We can work this out. We always do."

"It's too late, Betty." He shook his head. "The only thing we have in common is Isabella and I want to keep it that way. I was a fool to think that we could fix our mistakes."

"Daniel, you said that…"

"I know what I said, Betty. The circumstances have changed now," said Daniel.

"Let's have dinner tomorrow night. Just the two of us and talk about this," said Betty.

"No. I don't think so," said Daniel. "I'll go meet with Mr. Adams first thing in the morning…alone. I'll get Brandon and Isabella back in school. I'll pick them up from school and bring them back here, where I'm going to tell Isabella the truth."

"That her mother is a liar?"

"No. I'm going to tell her that I'm her father," said Daniel.

"I'll tell her." Betty lowered her head and then glanced up at Daniel.

"Fine." Daniel said sternly.

A few minutes later, Betty was in the car and headed for Queens. She glanced back in the window to see Daniel still standing there, watching the car drive away down the street. It was then that she knew for sure that the Daniel and Betty that once existed were history and she only had herself to blame.

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	10. Chapter 10

**The Ties That Bind**

Author's Note: Thank you for all the feedback and comments. I hope that you are still enjoying this story. Things aren't going to get better immediately. Daniel and Betty have some issues to work through. Keep the comments coming and as always, I appreciate them.

**Chapter 10**

It was 8:00 am and right on-time, the text came from Daniel telling her that the town car was on the way to pick up Isabella and take her to school.

"Isabella, are you ready?" Betty yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

"Be right down." Isabella replied.

As Betty went back to the kitchen to finish packing Isabella's lunch, she wondered if this was the way that things were going to be now. Betty knew that it was only a matter of time before Daniel probably had his lawyers draw up the papers, telling her that he wanted full custody of Isabella.

And even if he didn't ask for full custody, Betty knew that there was a future of awkward exchanges between them, which would lead them to making arrangement for child exchanges through relatives and discussions about Isabella through email and text messages.

She knew that she had brought this on herself. He had every right to be angry with her over the choice that she had made but was it too much to ask him to pick up the phone.

_Is this the way it was going to be? Couldn't they find a way to deal with this?_

Betty heard Isabella's leather Mary Jane shoes padding across the wood floor. She looked up to see her little girl dressed for school in her crisp white shirt and black skirt and don't forget the smile on her face that told Betty that Isabella was ecstatic about returning to school.

"Are you ready?" Betty asked, as she closed the butterfly lunch bag.

"Yes." She reached for the lunch bag that sat on the edge of the counter.

Betty knelt to Isabella's level. "Now, Daniel is going to pick you up after school and you are going to stay with him for a few days. Okay?"

"Are you going to stay too?" Isabella asked. "Daniel said we were going to the zoo."

"No, sweetie. You can call me anytime you want though. Daniel is going to take very good care of you. I promise." Betty had been up most of the night trying to figure out what to say to Isabella about her father. She had determined that there really was no easy way at all to have this conversation.

"I want you to go. I'm sure that Daniel will let you," Isabella's eyes turned sad.

"Mommy has to work," said Betty. It wasn't a lie. She really did have to work. She had those books to finish and she had to work on tonight and Sunday at the pizza parlor.

"It won't be the same without you," said Isabella. Betty could see the disappointment in her little girl's voice. It broke her heart.

"You like spending time with Daniel," said Betty. "Right?"

"He's funny." Isabella smiled. Her blue eyes lit up, as she giggled.

"Isabella, you know how Daniel is Brandon's father….and how Bobby is Justin's father."

Though Betty knew that technically Daniel was Brandon's adoptive father and Bobby was Justin's step father but Isabella didn't know what a biological father was. This was the only logical she could explain it without getting technical.

"Yes." She nodded her little head.

"Well, Daniel is your father."

"Really!" Her eye lit up ever brighter than before. "He is."

"Yes and you are going to be spending a lot of time with him from now on," said Betty.

Her happy little face fell as Betty could see that Isabella was trying to process all this new information.

"Are you okay with that, Isabella?"

"Yes…but…"

"But what?" Betty braced herself for any questions that Isabella had about her father's absences from her life.

"Well, if you are my Mommy and he's my Daddy, then are we all going to live together? And are you going to Brandon's new mommy, since Daniel is my new daddy?"

"Brandon is your brother, Sweetie. As far as your father and I, we aren't going to live together." Betty said gently.

"Why not?"

"It's complicated." Betty really didn't know what else to say.

What was she supposed to say? Was she supposed to tell her own daughter that she kept her existence from her father all these years?

"What's complicated?"

"Honey, the only thing that you need to know is that I love you and your father loves you," said Betty.

"But you don't love each other?"

"Of course, I love him but…," said Betty. The doorbell rang and interrupted her. "Honey that would be the town car, you don't want to be late for school."

* * *

With both his children back in school, Daniel sat at the bar at Madison Six waiting for his business lunch with his long time friend and publicist, Adrianna.

It was barely noon when Daniel lifted the amber liquid to his lips to help ease the pain that Betty had casted upon him.

"Kind of early to start drinking?" Adrianna slid onto the stool next to him.

"I guess it is." Daniel chuckled and turned to gaze the beautiful brunette that had just joined him. "Let's just say that I need it after what I've been through in the last 24 hours."

"Ohh…that sounds interesting. Do tell." She tossed her hair back and turned her long legs towards him, ready to listen to him, just like she always did since he hired her last year.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Daniel lifted the glass to his lips once again, as he heard Adrianna order an Appletini.

"Oh, come on. I've known you since we were teenagers. I doubt that there is anything you could tell me that would shock me. Remember the time we went skinny dipping in your parent's swimming pool when we were in high school."

Daniel laughed. "Yeah! I've never seen my dad so mad before. How was I supposed to know that he was having some business associates over for dinner?"

"He was so mad. It can't be as big as that," Adrianna laughed.

"It's bigger than that, Adrianna. It's life changing."

"Bigger? Life changing?" She took a sip from the glass the bartender placed in front of her. "Oh! That's not good."

"It's actually good but it's also bad too."

"Will you quit stalling and just tell me? Out with it?" She nudged him.

"The woman who I've love…" He took a drink, emptying the glass.

"Betty?"

"Yes." He nodded gently.

"Ok? What about her?"

"She had my baby and never bothered to tell me," said Daniel.

"Ohh…I smell a new best seller there."

"Not funny." Daniel glared at her as he took another sip of scotch.

"How is that possible? You haven't seen her in almost ...when were you in London?" She asked.

Daniel focused on the glass in front of him. He knew that one was his limit. After all, he had to pick the kids up from school this afternoon. "Seven years ago."

"Seven years? How can she have just had a baby then?"

"Isabella just turned six," said Daniel.

"Wow! This is huge. How…how do you feel about it?" Adrianna placed her hand on his arm that rested on the bar. "You have a six-year-old daughter."

"I'm thrilled. I'm hurt. I'm confused. Isabella is everything I could ever want but I just don't understand why Betty would hurt me like this," said Daniel.

"So…what are you going to do now? Are you going to try to get custody of her…especially after Betty hid the truth from you? What does that say about her as a mother?"

"I don't know. Betty's a good mother. I just….I don't know. All I know is that I want to know my daughter and I feel like I've lost so much time with her," said Daniel. "I want to make up for that."

"So I guess after this you are finally ready to close the book on Betty? "Adrianna asked seriously. "Ready to move on with your life?"

"I don't know about anything."

"Daniel, you were once the biggest playboy in the city and now you stay home helping your son with his homework," said Adrianna. "Perhaps, you've thought that this Betty is a saint, when really she isn't."

"What are you saying?" He asked curiously. "I love spending time with Brandon."

"I know you do. He's a great kid. I'm just saying that I'm sure that Betty hasn't been staying home the last seven-years, knitting pot holders, while you were pining away for a relationship that was never going to happen. I mean, she didn't even care enough to tell you about your daughter. I say that it is time to move on from Betty."

"You make it sound so easy," said Daniel.

"I didn't say that it was going to be easy. There are ways to make it easier though," said Adrianna casually. "You have written books based on the relationship that you had with her. It's not going to be easy to run away from that but there are ways to help with that transition."

"You are the only one that knows that I was writing about her."

He added. "After a certain point, it's all made up anyway. Why do you think I use the name Maggie Daniels?"

"Because everyone would know you were writing about Betty if you wrote under your real name." Adrianna replied.

"Exactly." Daniel sighed. "Everyone knows that I went after her in London, just like Dante goes after Antoinette in the second book. If I used my name, she would know it was about her. I'm not willing to admit to Betty or anyone else that I had fallen so deeply in love with her."

"Listen, Daniel. I'm not making excuses for Betty here because really there is no excuse for what she did. But you kind of have your own secret. You built this entire world where you and Betty could be together…and you lived it through your books."

"It's not the same thing at all." Daniel snapped.

"Big or small, Daniel. Lies are still lies." Adrianna pointed out. "I think you need to talk to her for your daughter's sake…and so that you can move on from Betty…because Daniel, there is a real world reach to accept you back into it and it's better than the make-believe one that you have made for yourself."

"I know." Daniel nodded his head. "I don't want to talk about Betty anymore. We came here to talk about business."

Daniel felt Adrianna's eyes on him, even though he wasn't looking at her. He knew that she was coming onto him.

It wasn't the first time he had noticed this during their working relationship. He and Adrianna had history. She was his first girlfriend until she broke his heart. Still, they were friends but suddenly, all he could think about was how much he wanted to forget Betty.

"Well, I can tell you that I'm getting a lot of requests for interviews about your upcoming book. It seems that people want to meet Maggie Daniels," Adrianna shifted the focus back to work but now his mind was not focused on business.

"That's not happening." Her lips were making that very difficult though. He felt like a desperate man.

"Daniel, you can't hide forever. Do you know what will happen if we let everyone know that you are Maggie Daniels? It will be really good for the sale of your new book. People won't be able to stop talking about it."

"No." He said adamantly.

"Just think about it, okay?"

"Okay…but I'm telling you that the answer is still going to be no," Daniel said firmly. "Anyway, you are right. I need to move on. This is the last book and then Maggie Daniels is never going to release another book. It's time that I put that pen name to rest. It's like you said. I've created the world where Betty and I could be together and it's time that I close that chapter…and close the book on Betty forever. It is time that I got my life back.

"Daniel…" She moved closer, clearly sensing the sadness that he was feeling.

"I'm okay." He reached for her hand that rested on his bicep.

"You are not okay, Daniel."

"Actually, I am." He looked her directly in the eye. "Or I will be."

"Can I help?" Adrianna's brown eyes shined. Daniel knew that he had her attention.

"I think you can," said Daniel. "How about we get out of her get some take-out from the Chinese place across the street and go back to my office?"

"Okay." She moved off the stool as he paid for their drinks and left Madison Six.

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	11. Chapter 11

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and the comments. I really do appreicate them and I hope you are still enjoying this story._

**Chapter 11**

With Isabella's overnight bag on the seat beside her, Betty was going to a place the last place in Manhattan she knew that she shouldn't be going.

_Daniel's townhouse._

After all, she had promised herself that she would stay away and give Daniel the time he needed to bond with Isabella and to sort through his emotions. Betty knew Daniel well enough to know that if she pushed too hard. He was capable of anything, including legal action to take Isabella away from her.

He had the money to do it. He had the power here. And though, she had been the best mother she could to Isabella, giving her as much as she could, in the end, she was still the one that had hidden the truth from him.

No. She needed to be very careful and hope that someday they would be able to find a way past this and work together for the benefit of Isabella.

And she still intended to give Daniel his space but she needed to get Isabella's things to her. She needed her allergy medication and she needed to make sure that Daniel had a list of the many things that she was allergic to. She also couldn't sleep with her teddy bear, Paquito.

Why did Hilda have to be booked solid at the salon this afternoon? She could have done this, otherwise. This was the last place she needed to go. She could only hope that Daniel's nanny would be in and she could just drop it off with her and then be gone before Daniel even knew she was there.

When the cab pulled up to the curb, she took a deep breath. She paid the cab fare and gathered her belongings and got out of the cab.

As she approached the front door, she started to ring the doorbell but found the door opened slightly. Betty knew she shouldn't but she stepped inside.

The first thing Betty's eyes were drawn to was the bag of Chinese take-out dumped on the floor. Two containers of noodles lay on their side; one had been stepped on.

The sight made Betty wonder just how the heck this happened. Why was the door opened? Who had dropped the food on the floor and didn't clean it up?

Then she heard a sound of voices coming from down the hallway. With Isabella's bag in hand, she moved slowly through the foyer to investigate. She hoped it was the nanny with a mop and dust pan. She hoped it wasn't something worse…like an intruder that had attacked Daniel.

She heard footsteps coming down the hall. Betty ducked out of sight inside the hall closet.

"Adrianna, stop…"

Betty cracked the door open just a bit when she heard Daniel's voice. When she did, she saw a brunette in a hurry to leave, buttoning her white blouse as she went. She grabbed her bag from the place on the floor where it had landed. Daniel was shirtless. It was clear to Betty that something intimate had occurred.

It made her heart hurt. Just last night, he had wanted to try things with them and now he was rolling around his bed….with _that_ woman.

"No." She snapped, as she flipped her hair back. "I can't believe that I thought that this was a good idea. You actually called me by her name."

"Look. I'm sorry. I just couldn't do it," said Daniel. "I don't jump into bed with just any woman anymore. I just can't."

"What happened to the hot Daniel that I used to know? The one that didn't play by the rules," said Adrianna.

"I grew up," said Daniel. "Plus, it's not just about me. Not anymore."

"What's it about? Your kids? Or Betty?"

"Get out, Adrianna." Daniel moved toward the door and opened it wide. "Get out now."

As Adrianna stepped over the mess, she stopped in front of Daniel. "You are so pathetic. You have pined away from a woman all these years and I can tell you that she doesn't love you. She just used you for one night of hot sex and got a little more than what she bargained for. Your daughter was an accident."

Betty backed into the back of the closet and wanted to cry. She wanted to rush out of the closet screaming. Nothing that woman was telling him was true. Not one ounce of it.

"Get out." Daniel snapped sternly. "You're fired."

"What about the book launch? You can't…" Adrianna said cold-heartedly. "You will never be able to replace me."

"Get out! Now!" Daniel raised his voice.

From the darkness of the closet, Betty heard the front door shut. She heard Daniel walking towards the kitchen. This was Betty's chance to get away.

* * *

Daniel couldn't believe what an idiot he was. He not only allowed Adrianna to talk him into trying to be something that he no longer was. He almost slept with her.

Okay! He really didn't get very far at all. And it really didn't help matters that he called her Betty.

_Betty._

The woman he was so angry with. The woman who lied to him. The woman who hurt him. The woman he couldn't stop thinking about. The woman he loved.

He threw on a shirt and grabbed the broom to clean up the mess they had left in the hallway and headed back to the foyer.

Just as he rounded the corner, he could barely believe what he saw. He saw Betty slipping out the front door. Before he said could say anything, the door closed.

"Betty." He blinked, as if she was a figment of his imagination. He leaned the broom against the wall and hurried for the front door.

He opened the door and saw Betty making her way carefully down the front steps. It wasn't his imagination.

"Betty." He called out.

Betty turned towards him, when she did; she made a misstep and twisted her ankle, tumbling down the remaining steps to the sidewalk.

Daniel hurried down to the bottom of the stairs. "Betty, are you okay?"

"Yeah. I think." She laid flat on the sidewalk.

"Do you want me to help you up?" Daniel asked.

She tried to sit up. "You don't want to leave me on the sidewalk?"

"I'm not a monster." Daniel assisted her in standing. "Just lean on me, okay?"

"Okay."

"What are you doing here?" He asked curiously. "What were you…"

Betty tried to regain her composure, as she continued to lean on him. She pointed to the ground at the pink and purple princess bag, with Isabella's name on it. "I brought Isabella's overnight bag. Her medication is in there and a list of the things she is allergic to…and her doctor's phone number."

"Oh…" Daniel knew that didn't explain why Betty was sneaking out of his house.

Betty moved forward to reach for the bag. She grabbed the bag and put weight on her foot. "Ouch!"

Daniel grabbed her waist to keep her from falling forward. "Your foot?"

"Yeah." Betty cringed in pain. "I'll be fine. I just have to walk…"

"Let's get you inside." Daniel scooped her up and started back up the stairs before she could say another word. "And off that foot."

As they crossed the threshold, he managed to dodge the mess left there. He placed Betty down on the sofa. He knelt and removed her heel to get a closer look at her injury. He could see that there was some swelling.

"Daniel, I'll be fine," said Betty. "I need to get to work."

"You aren't going anywhere on that ankle. I think you've sprained it." Daniel stood up and grabbed some throw pillows. "Come on. You need to elevate it."

"This really isn't necessary." Betty said uncomfortably.

"Just lay back." Daniel ordered. "I'll get some ice for your foot."

"Just put me in a cab and send me home. I can take care of it there. We do have ice in Queens."

"That might be true but who is going to help you out of the cab? I would take you back to Queens myself but I have to pick up the kids at school," said Daniel. "And there is no way that I could go there and get back in time and I gave the nanny the day off."

"Well, it looks like you had time for other things." Betty said sarcastically.

"You were here? When Adrianna was here." He said cautiously.

"Yes." She whispered.

"I thought so." Daniel gave her smirk. "How did you get in here?"

"Daniel, it's none of my business who you sleep with. I really just came by to drop off Isabella's things and the door was opened….and then I saw the two of you ….." She sighed. "You know what I think I'm going to shut up now."

She added and closed her eyes tight. "Can we pretend that this never happened?"

"No. I don't think we can, Betty," said Daniel.

"Daniel, I know things are bad enough between us. I don't want them to be worse. I promise I'll stay out of your business."

"Betty, just stop!" He held up his hand.

"No. I'm not going to stop. I need to talk. I need you to listen to me. I'm…."

"Okay."

"Daniel, I don't want you to fight me. I need you to let me explain," said Betty adamantly.

She obviously had missed that he had agreed to talk things out but she still continued to ramble on…and on. And that left Daniel to the only course of action he knew to get her attention.

He reached for her shoulder, leaned forward and kissed her.

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	12. Chapter 12

**The Ties That Bind**

Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I really appreciate them.

**Chapter 12**

As Daniel kissed her, Betty felt her whole body go numb and her mind go blank. Finally, he pulled back from her and looked in her eyes. She wondered what had possessed him to kiss her now, especially a passionate kiss like that.

_A kiss that left her aching for more._

"Betty…" He said.

"Yeah." She managed to murmur.

To say anything else seemed nearly impossible at the moment. His face was still so close to hers. She could feel his breath on her cheek and her heart was beating so fast that she was sure that it was going to jump out of her chest.

"I'll go get that ice now." Daniel quickly pulled away and made his way toward the kitchen. With each step further away he got, the warmth that she felt a few moments ago was now slowly replaced with a bitter chill.

She needed to get out of here. She quickly moved to put her shoe back on. Before she could get very far, Daniel returned with the ice pack in hand.

"You are still just as stubborn as ever," said Daniel.

"I told you. I have to go back to work and I also have to work that pizza place night. It's Friday night and it's a good night for tips."

"I don't care. You are out of your mind, if you think that I'm going to let you go anywhere with your foot like that." Daniel sat on the opposite end of the couch.

Betty knew that he was right. Her foot did hurt, so she complied with his request. He gently placed her foot on the pile of pillows, placing the ice pack on top.

She jumped a bit from the chill of the ice pack making contact with her bare foot. Then she slowly settled back. Betty knew that Daniel's mixed demeanor shouldn't come as a surprise, considering the circumstances.

"Why did you kiss me?" She figured she might as well get that out of question out-of-the-way.

"Because…I had to get your attention, Betty." His tone was bit harsh. Again, he had a right. "You kept going on and on. I told you that I wanted to talk but if we are going to talk….You have to let me get a word in."

Betty felt a twinge of disappointment. It was too much to hope for that the kiss had meant that he had forgiven her. Then again, it couldn't have meant too much if he had women down the hall in his bed. Even Daniel had been in love with her all these years; Betty realized that her lies changed everything between them now.

"What do you want to know?" Betty asked, as she pulled her eyes away from his. She knew that Daniel probably had a lot of questions.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were pregnant?"

Betty didn't know if there was one single answer to that question. It was a question that she had asked herself many times. At first, it was because she was angry about his relationship with Michelle.

_A relationship that she now knew never took place_.

Then once he returned to New York, she told herself that if he had really loved her, he would have fought harder for her. If she had told him that she was pregnant, she and the baby would have been a burden on him.

_Now, Betty knew that was ridiculous. _

He would have loved the baby, even if he didn't love her. Of course, she now knew that he had loved her all these years…and she was the fool.

And then, the nightmare that she wished to forget. The nightmare of the day she gave birth was still in her mind. The day that she and Isabella almost died.

The events of that day left her scarred for the rest of her life. _Her punishment_.

After that day, she wanted to call him. She didn't though…and she couldn't pick up the phone. She was too ashamed of the truth that she had hidden for way too long.

"Daniel…I…" She struggled to say something. _Anything._

"Betty, why couldn't you tell me?" He lifted the ice pack from her foot and placed it back down with care.

"It doesn't matter anymore." Betty said softly.

"Yes. It does. It matters a lot."

"Daniel, all the reasons that I have were so stupid." Betty felt tears forming in her eyes, as she thought of the one reason that wasn't stupid and the one reason that she couldn't tell him. "Most of them anyway."

"Try me."

"I just thought that you didn't really love me. I thought figured that if you really loved me, you wouldn't have gone out with Michelle and then you wouldn't have gone back to New York, you would have fought for me."

"I was wrong, Betty."

"Huh?" Betty glanced up at him through teary eyes.

"I should have never let you think that I didn't love you because…"

"Now I know that you did." Betty's eyes left his again.

Daniel nodded and Betty could still tell that this didn't change anything. The bitterness was still there in his eyes.

"Regardless of what you thought about us, I had a right to know that my daughter existed.

"I know. Daniel, I wish that I could go back and change everything. I can't though. You have no idea how many times I thought to call you and tell you to come to London, so that I could tell you about her."

"But you didn't. What would have happened if you had never come back to New York? Would you have ever told me? Or would Isabella show up at my office when she was 18 years old and accuse me of abandoning the two of you?"

"I never told her that you abandoned us. I never told her…"

"Told her what?" Daniel raised his voice.

"I didn't tell her anything. It never came up." Betty snapped in return.

"Betty, I would have been there. I would have come back and I would have married you, not out of obligation but because I loved you. You were the reason I came to London in the first place."

"Daniel, we can play what if…all day long. It isn't going to change anything," said Betty. "I'm truly sorry for what I did to you."

Daniel lifted his eyes to hers. "So…how do you want to handle this?"

"You can spend as much time with Isabella as you would like. Six years is a long time and I know that the two of you have a lot of time to make up," said Betty. "Just please don't…."

"Just what?"

Betty felt the tears coming faster and she found herself unable to control them. The more she thought about losing her daughter because of her own stupidity, the more she wanted to cry.

"Betty?" Daniel seemed to soften by his tears. He never could stand to see her cry. If he only knew how many tear she had cried in all these years. "What?"

"Please don't take her away from me. I know what I've done is horrible but don't let Isabella get caught in the middle of a legal battle. She wouldn't understand…" The tears were falling faster and faster.

Daniel moved quickly over to her, kneeling down beside her. "I wouldn't do that." He reached for her hand, squeezing it gently.

"You wouldn't?"

"No…I wouldn't because..." He said reassuringly. "Despite my hurt, I know that Isabella is the most important thing. She's a happy little girl. That's all I want is for her to be happy."

Betty gave him a subtle but appreciative smile. "Thank you." She whispered and he nodded in response.

There was another question that was lingering on Betty's heart though. She knew that she had no right to ask but she had to.

"Daniel, are we going to be okay? You and I?" Betty gazed down at his hand, still holding hers.

"I don't know, Betty." She could hear the hopelessness in his voice. "I…really don't know. I think we should try to be friends and then just see what happens."

He added. "I can't promise you that we will ever be more. Time will tell I guess."

Betty would take it though. What did she really expect? Did she expect that Daniel would instantly forgive her? No, she didn't. Being friends with Daniel…even if it was just for the sake of Isabella, was better than not having Daniel at all.

The most important thing was that Isabella now had two parents that loved her.

"What I do know is that you are not going anywhere on that foot?" He nodded toward her foot. "We'll wrap that foot up and I'll get your some crutches.

"I have to work at the pizza place tonight."

"You are not." He ordered. "You are going to stay here…in the guest room. I'm sure that Isabella will be glad to find you here when she gets home from school."

"Daniel, I'll be fine. I need the money for Isabella's tuition. I have to pay them next week."

"Not anymore. I paid it this morning," said Daniel.

"What?"

"Listen. Isabella is my daughter too. Please don't fight me on this."

"I won't…" Betty was actually grateful for his help.

"And I want you to quit that job, Betty. It's taking away from the time you spend with Isabella," said Daniel. "And you told me that you were only working that job to pay her tuition and now it's paid…so you don't need it anymore."

"But…"

"You don't have to do this by yourself anymore. You need to let me help," said Daniel.

"Okay." Betty lifted her eyes to his.

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	13. Chapter 13

**The Ties That Bind**

Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I really appreciate it.

**Chapter 13**

As Betty laid back in the king size bed in Daniel's upstairs guest room, she found herself drawn the book she held in her hand. The way that Dante loved Antoinette made Betty wish that could happen to her.

_Why didn't Dante just tell her already that he loved her and that he always loved her? Why did Antoinette have to push him away and deny her own feelings? It was obvious that she was in love with him too._

When she reached the part of the book where Dante finally went after Antoinette in London, meeting her on the steps of the National Gallery and professing his love for the woman who had seen him at his worst, it was enough to bring tears to Betty's eyes.

She could see why so many readers were hooked on these books. She couldn't wait to finish the book and get to the last book.

The sound of the bedroom door opening startled Betty from her trance. She marked her place in the book when she saw that Daniel had returned. She could hear the Brandon and Isabella all the way from downstairs.

"You're back." Betty looked up from her book. "It's been a few hours. I was starting to wonder where you guys were."

"Yeah." Daniel placed the box that she had asked Hilda to get out of the bottom of her bedroom closet, on the end of the bed. "It took a little longer in Queens than anticipated."

"Hilda was supposed to have everything ready for you."

"But….are you sure you aren't moving in here for month? I figured I would be picking up a small bag." He added, as he placed her suitcase beside the wooden chest along the wall. "Hilda had this box, a suitcase for you and Isabella insisted on bringing some of her things to put in her new room."

"Oh…okay." Betty smiled. She knew that Isabella was probably a little confused about the fact that she was going to have two homes…two rooms.

"She said she wants a canopy bed for her room….and she wants everything to be pink."

"Daniel, you don't have to spoil her. A regular bed will be just fine."

"I want to spoil her….a little. I can't help it." Daniel grinned.

"So…I guess things are going well?" Betty asked. .

"Great. Actually more than great… It's fantastic."

"And what does Brandon think about Isabella being his sister?" She placed the book down near the edge of the bed.

Daniel sat on the edge of the bed. "He's taking it surprisingly well. I wasn't sure how that was going to go considering that he also lost his little sister in the accident that killed his parents last year. To be honest, I thought about adopting again in the next couple years because I hated the idea of him not having any siblings….and well, I really didn't have any other options."

Betty nodded. "He has that now and I think it will be good for Isabella to have….a brother about her age." Betty pulled her eyes away from Daniel, as once again she felt the pain of the past and her own accident and the aftermath.

"To be honest, I think he is a little intimidated by her. She did give him that black eye." He gazed down at her elevated foot.

"They'll adjust." Betty managed a smile.

"How's your foot?" Daniel reached for it and gently took it in his hands.

"It hurts. It was a challenge to get up but I…"

"I told you to stay in bed." Daniel continued his examination.

"Well, I needed to go to the bathroom, Daniel. What was I supposed to do?"

"Oh…yeah." Daniel chuckled, as he continued to assess her injury. "Do you need me to help you?"

"No…I hopped over there…and back. It was exhausting."

"I should have gotten some crutches for you before I left." Daniel admitted.

"I managed."

"Actually, I believe that it looks worse now. I'm starting think that maybe I should take you to get some x-rays. It could be broken."

"It's not broken."

"Betty, what are these scars on your legs from?"

Betty glanced down to see that her skirt had slid up her leg a bit and revealed her badly scarred right leg.

"It's nothing." She pulled her skirt back down. "I'm okay. I've had that for years since I was a kid."

"Betty, I don't remember that." Daniel tried to get another look.

"Like you have every part of me memorized." Betty rolled her eyes.

"Actually…" He grinned.

She cut in. "You don't have to take care of me, Daniel. I don't deserve it."

"Betty..." He saw his eyes soften towards her. "I just…"

"Daniel, I'll be as good as new in a few days. In fact, I'm not moving in here. I'm only staying for one night. I only asked Hilda to get the box because it has photos and things that I saved for you. I know that once I did tell you about Isabella. You might want to see them." Betty snapped, as she sat up a bit. Her foot fell out of his grip and at the same time, her book tumbled to the floor.

They just sat there in silence for a moment.

"I'm sorry." Betty regretted her tone, as soon as the words slipped from her lips. She knew that she was lucky to be here, instead of kicked to the curb. The last thing she wanted was for Daniel to show her any mercy.

Her life was just one punishment after another. She had been foolish enough to push Daniel away all those years ago. He left New York and never returned to London. The only blessing she had been that she still had Isabella. She had been the bright spot in the darkness that she had been in for so long.

No matter how bad her professional or personal disappointments were. Isabella was her shining star that brought Betty through the roughest times of her life.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by sound of Isabella running into the room with Brandon close behind her. Brandon had a small bouquet of pink Gerber daisies in his hand.

"Mommy, we got these for you. Daddy picked them out," said Isabella.

Betty took them beautiful and fragrant bouquet in her hands. "Thank you." She lifted her eyes to Daniel's.

Daniel helped Isabella up on the tall bed. She crawled over and snuggled up to Betty. She kissed Isabella's on the forehead.

"How was school today?" Betty asked.

"It was great. I was so happy to go back." Isabella said happily. "And I'm so glad that you are here with Daddy. He will take care of you."

"Daddy?" Betty's eyes met Daniel's.

"Are you two going to get married?" Brandon asked boldly.

"Married?" Betty glanced down at Brandon and then back up to meet Daniel's eyes once again. "I…uh…" What was she supposed to say? She was at a loss for words.

"Hey, Brandon. Could you take Isabella downstairs? I'm going to call Grandma and see if she can stay with you two, while I take Betty to the doctor to get her foot looked at. Okay?"

"Mommy, are you going to be okay?" Isabella asked.

"Yes." Betty nodded.

"Bella, I'm going to make sure that of it." Daniel said reassuringly. Then, Isabella gave Daniel a smile that almost melted Betty's heart, before she jumped down and followed Brandon out of the room.

"Okay. I'm going to call mom and then I'm taking you to the emergency room."

"Daniel, I don't need to go to the hospital. I don't like the hospitals at all," said Betty adamantly. In her lifetime, she had spent way too much time in hospitals between her and Isabella.

"Betty, I have to."

"No, you don't." Betty said with determination. "I really don't think that it's broken."

"Look. I just promised our daughter that I would take care of you. You don't want me to break a promise to her, do you?"

Betty wanted to slap Daniel for using his promise to Isabella to his advantage. She knew that he had a point. "No. I guess not."

"Betty, I've been doing some thinking this afternoon and….I know, that this might be weird for both of us but I think that it would be really good for Brandon and Isabella."

"What?"

"That you and Isabella stay with us for a little while," said Daniel.

"Daniel, I don't know. We have a lot of things to work out."

"And what a better way to work them out than staying here? I will get to spend time with Isabella…and we won't be shuttling her back and forth. You will be closer to work and once your foot is healed. You can go back home to Queens."

"How can you even want me around?" Betty pulled her eyes away. "After everything, I did."

"Betty, we have a daughter together. I'm always going to care about you and we have to learn to work together as a team again for Isabella and Brandon's sake."

"It's temporary." Betty stated.

Daniel reached down and picked up her book off the floor. "I think it's going to be great." He looked down at the cover.

"It will be interesting." Betty smiled.

"Maggie...uh...Daniels. Is that a good book?" Daniel handed the book back to her. "I hear a lot of people talk about it."

"Oh…Yes!" Betty placed the book on the nightstand. "I have barely been able to put it down. I just got to the part where the guy confesses how much he loved her. If only real life could be like that."

Daniel stood up and stood his head. He started out of the room.

"Why are you laughing?" Betty smiled.

"No reason." He stood in the doorway.

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	14. Chapter 14

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Sorry for the slow updates. I'm working on my final assignments for this semester. Thank you for the feedback and comments. I appreciate them._

**Chapter 14**

* * *

As much as Daniel wanted to shout the news about Isabella from the rooftop, he knew that this was something that he needed to tell his mother in person. After all, she loved being a grandmother. She loved DJ. She loved Brandon…and he knew without a doubt, she would fall in love with Isabella, just like he had.

Isabella and Brandon rushed up towards the stairs.. "Isabella?" Daniel called out and Isabella stopped in her tracks.

"Yes. Daddy." Her bright blue eyes shined back at him.

"Please go tell your mother that we will be leaving in a few minutes. I'll be up to carry her down to the car."

Isabella nodded and proceeded up the stairs after Brandon.

"Daddy?" Claire raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued by the new revelation

"Mom, I have a daughter." He figured just to come out with it then he would just answer any questions that she might have.

Claire sat there with her hand over her heart. "I have a granddaughter."

"Yes." Daniel grinned proudly. "Her name is Isabella Suarez."

"As in…Betty Suarez?"

"Betty and I have a daughter. She's been living in Lon-"

"How long have you known about this?" Claire cut in abruptly.

Daniel let out a sigh. "I found out last night."

"Did you do a DNA test?" Claire asked.

"Yes…and it told me that she wasn't mine. Betty is sure that there has to be a mistake. Mom, she has my eyes. She is even allergic to some of the same things I am. I don't need another test. I know that she's mine."

"And Betty never even hinted that she was carrying your child?"

"No. You know I haven't talked to her in years…and now I know why."

"So…how did you manage to find out?"

"We kind of ran into each other in the principal's office at Kingsbury." Daniel said sheepishly. "Isabella and Brandon are in the same class."

"Principal's office? Brandon got in trouble again. I thought that was a black eye."

"Yes. Everything is fine now. Isabella actually gave Brandon that black eye." Daniel grinned. "He was pulled her hair and picking on her."

Claire tried surprised her laughter unsuccessfully. "Brandon might not be your son, biologically. He is your son though. I believe you were about his age when you got slapped because you tried to kiss the girl next door. What was her name...Adrianna?"

"This isn't about me." The last thing Daniel wanted to talk about was Adrianna.

"Actually, it is. Speaking of girls, what about Betty? She's here. So what are you going to do about it?"

Daniel groaned. Why did he know that his mother was going to go there? She was going to tell him that he was a fool for leaving Betty in London, just like she did when he came back all those years ago.

"Mom…it's complicated."

"Doesn't seem that complicated? Daniel, the woman that we both know that you are in love with walked back into your life and you find out that you have a child together. That's a pretty amazing thing."

"It is…" Daniel said in almost a whisper.

"You haven't been able to have a real relationship with anyone since Molly. You left everything to go after Betty…and you only came back with a broken heart and no Betty."

"I've had relationships."

"No you haven't."

"I've been busy with Molly's Foundation." Daniel replied.

"You have a staff that takes care of that for you. You are never there. Plus, I would not call what you had…relationships, Daniel. You have closed yourself off because you are afraid to give your heart to anyone."

"I just can't…" Daniel pulled his eyes away.

"Why not?"

"Because…Betty already has my heart."

"Then you need to tell her that," said Claire.

"Actually, I did …but then I found out that she lied to me and…."

"Did you ask her why she didn't tell you?"

"Yes. I did but I can't help but to think that there is still something she's not telling me." Daniel flashed back to the odd scars on Betty's legs. Scars that he didn't remember from the times they were intimate.

"Well, if you think there is more, I'm sure there is. I'm sure that she had her reasons, just like I had my reasons for keeping Tyler a secret."

"Are you taking her side?" Daniel asked curiously.

"I'm not taking sides. I just think that you owe it to you and to Betty to get to the bottom of it before you throw away another chance for happiness. You owe it to yourself. You owe it to Betty…and you owe it to Isabella and Brandon."

"What if I don't like what I find out, Mom? What then?"

"Nothing worth-while is ever going to be easy," said Claire. "Your father and I were married for 35 years and it was no cake walk. You do things sometimes…things that are unforgiveable…but somehow, if you love each other enough, you will get through it. And I can see since you have her upstairs and are taking care of her, which tells me that you aren't ready to just let Betty go…no matter how upset you might be now."

* * *

Thanks to Betty's severely sprained ankle, she tried to enjoy the penguin exhibit from a wheelchair. She had told Daniel that she would stay home but he wouldn't let her. He insisted that she come along.

His kindness since her accident was making her feel worse and worse. Not only did he take her to the emergency room, he went out the 24 hour pharmacy and picked up her medication at midnight when they returned from the hospital.

As she watched the penguins swimming through the blue water, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Daniel in the distance with Brandon and Isabella and the nanny, Maria.

Daniel was such an amazing dad. So amazing that it made her heart hurt. Her guilt was just getting worse and worse.

The time that she stole from him.

He deserved Isabella, not her. Why didn't she just hand her over to him when she was born? It wasn't like she was able to care for her due to her injuries from the car accident that she had gotten into on the way to the hospital.

She turned around and headed for the exit. Before she could get very far, Daniel was calling after her.

"Betty…" He rushed around to block her path. "Where are you going?"

"I…uh…I just…" Betty could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. The tears that she didn't want Daniel to see but it was pointless. She had to think of something quick. "I think it's the medication. I'm not feeling well."

"I'll get the kids. We'll go home." He offered. Why did he have to be so nice to her?

"No…I want you to enjoy your day with Isabella and Brandon. I'll just call Hilda and have Bobby come get me," said Betty softly. She drew her eyes away from Daniel's. "Or I can just get my crutches and take a cab."

"Betty, what's wrong?" He asked her, as he knelt to her eye level.

"I told you." She reached up to wipe away a runaway tear. Daniel beat her to it though.

With his hand caressing her cheek, she gazed up at his blue, blue eyes. As soon as she did it, she knew that it was the wrong thing to do because the tears started coming on stronger.

He brought his hands to her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. She went willingly, as she felt secure wrapped his embrace. "No, Betty. I don't think you have told me what is really wrong."

"Daniel…I…" She rested against his shoulder until she finally pulled away.

"Don't…Daniel me, Betty. I know that there is something that you aren't telling me…or something that you are afraid to tell me. You can keep denying it until you are blue in the face but I know there is something else."

"Does it matter to you that much?" She pressed her lips together.

"You matter to me, Betty. I am not going anywhere."

"There is so much you don't know, Daniel. Horrible things that you would hate me for…more than you probably already do."

She added. "I just don't know how you can be so nice to me after what I've done to you."

"I don't hate you, Betty. I could never hate you," said Daniel.

"Daddy…I'm ready to go see the polar bears." Isabella ran up to him and Betty. She turned to see Betty's red eyes. "Mommy, why are you crying?"

"Mommy isn't feeling well. Maria is going to take you to see the polar bears and get some lunch while I tried to get Mommy better." Daniel put on a smile for Isabella. "Is that okay?"

Isabella nodded. "I just want Mommy to feel better."

"We'll meet you back at home later and we'll order pizza for dinner and watch a movie." Daniel said. "How does that sound?"

"Fun." Isabella and Brandon hugged Daniel and Betty and then quickly headed for their next stop with their nanny, Maria.

"You need to go with them." Betty looked up at Daniel. She should never have let him talk her into coming on this trip.

"There will be lots of trips to the zoo in our future, Betty. But to make sure that we have a future, you and I need to work some things out. We need to get everything out in the open and I don't care what it takes to do that….whether it means that we have to fight, scream, cry.. hug…kiss…I'm willing do it."

He added. "Fate has brought us together…and I realized that I said that I was mad but I know that being mad isn't going to change the past. And if being mad means that you aren't going to be part of my life that just isn't an option. I want you in my life."

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	15. Chapter 15

**The Ties that Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for all the awesome comments and feedback. I appreciate them and they just inspire me to keep telling this Detty stories. Hang onto your hats though. Lots of information in this chapter!_

_Grab your tissues..._

**Chapter 15 **

* * *

Betty sat on the secluded wooden bench in the Shakespeare Garden, waiting for Daniel to return with some water. She was grateful for his absence, after they ate their lunch in an uncomfortable silence.

Now, she was alone to think about the words that Daniel had spoken to her only an hour earlier. She wanted to believe him when he said that he would do anything to make things right. She knew that he meant it but she also knew that Daniel didn't have the power to make things right.

He couldn't change the chain of events any more than she could. And as much as she wanted to be in Daniel's life, as more than merely a co-parent or a friend, there was no way that she could even begin to see how that was ever going to be possible now.

Even the moment in front of his fireplace the other night, Betty never fully allowed herself that they could truly have a future together, even when that was something she wanted more than anything

With all her heart, she wanted to believe that she and Daniel and the children could make a family together. There would always be a missing piece though.

As the breeze gently blew thru the trees, Betty closed her eyes for a moment and allowed herself to imagine a different life.

A life that would have different, if she had only called Daniel and told him the news when she discovered her pregnancy and allowed him to make the choice about the role he wanted to play in her and their children's lives.

If she had, perhaps, the accident would have never happened because he would be there to protect her, just like he was trying to do now.

If she had called him, she never would have taken a cab to the hospital alone. He would have gotten a town car…or even told the cab driver to take another route…or maybe, they wouldn't even have been in London at all.

If she had called him, she wouldn't have had to be pulled from the wreckage unconscious; only to wake up in the hospital a week later to find that her babies were delivered by C-section…and that the baby girl was alive and her baby boy didn't make it.

That was the moment she needed Daniel and she was too terrified to call him.

"Here you go." Daniel handed her the bottle of water.

Betty looked up at him as she took it from him. "Thank you."

He took a seat beside her and wrapped his arm around the back of the bench behind her. "So…are you ready to talk?"

"I don't even think I know where to start." Betty could feel the tears begin to build. She tried telling herself that she wasn't going to cry, even though she knew that she was going to be unsuccessful.

"Wherever you think is the most relevant point….I guess. It seems that you've been holding a lot in for seven years." He shrugged his shoulder.

Betty just nodded. There was no good place to start. Starting at the beginning would just be rehashing her anger about him leaving and the relationship that never was with Michelle. Even telling him about when she found out she was pregnant didn't the right place to start.

He took his free hand and reached over, making her look at him. His face was so close to hers, as he gently held her cheek in his hand. "I see the pain in your eyes, Betty. I want to take that away. Just tell me what I need to do. I want to see that smile on your face again."

"But you can't…as much as I want you too. You can never take it away."

"I don't believe that." He shook his head. "Something is wrong…and I need you to tell me what happened to you. I know that those scars are new since I last saw you."

"I was in a car accident." She managed to get out. "Actually, I was in a cab."

"Are you okay? Those scars they looked pretty bad." His hand dropped to her lap and took her hand.

"I'm fine now. It took me a while to get there." She felt a small weight lift off her, even though it wasn't everything. It was progress.

"When did it happen? Why didn't you call me? Why didn't someone call me and tell me?"

"I was in labor with…"

"Isabella."

"Yes. It happened on the way to the hospital." She lifted her eyes to his. "I was in a coma for a week. When I woke up, I found out that…."

She couldn't get it out. It hurt too much to talk about it. Could she ever get it out?

"It's okay…" He pulled her into his arms and she didn't fight it.

"No…I need to get it out." Betty turned slightly to look at him and realized that if there were any hope of a future, even if it appeared to be a small glimmer. He needed to know everything….even the stuff that was too painful.

"You need to know." She let out a shaky breath. "You need to know what happened and all the reasons why. If you hate me, it's just something I'll just have to live with."

"I can never hate you. I care about you."

"Daniel, There are so many reasons that I didn't call you. I know that the biggest one was that I was afraid of getting hurt and that you didn't love me because you left me and went back to New York."

"I only did what you wanted me too. You said your career was what you wanted. I wanted to give that… and make you happy."

"And now I know that you really did love me, Daniel. I see that now. Just in the short time that we've been spending time together, you have shown me that."

"I'm glad you can see that." Daniel gave her a small grin, as he continued to hold her near.

"You prove it even more because you are sitting here with me now. You are a wonderful man, Daniel. And amazing father….and you deserve Isabella so much more than I ever did. It kills me now that I ever kept her away from you."

"You are a good mother, Betty. Isabella is happy and you've taken good care of her. That's all I want."

"You had a right to be angry with me."

"I know but I think that the fact that I love you, trumps that."

"You can't love me." Betty felt a tear slide down her face.

"Why not?"

Betty knew that she needed to continue on before she lost her nerve. "After the accident, I woke up in the hospital. I woke up alone because they didn't know who to contact. It seems that my identification was lost in the accident. Anyway, I woke up and found out that Isabella was barely hanging on…and I was in pretty rough shape too."

She continued. "I wanted to call you but it would have required telling you about the baby and that I had withheld the truth from you."

"You should have called. I'm not going to say that it wouldn't have hurt me but at least, I could have been there." Daniel said sincerely.

Betty nodded. "I contacted Christina and she came to London and helped me during my recovery. After all, my family didn't know about my pregnancy either. I didn't want them to have to lie to you, if they saw you. So…I left them out of it. They didn't know about Isabella until she was almost six months old."

"Well, at least I know that you didn't just shut me out."

"No." She said solemnly.

"After I was released from the hospital, I had to take a leave of absence from Dunne. There was no way that I could continue the physical therapy and take care of a baby…and work. I lived with Christina and Stuart in Scotland. They helped me until I was back on my feet and able to return to the magazine."

"I wish I could have been there. I wish your family could have been there to help you," said Daniel.

"Daniel, I didn't want to be a burden to you. You already had one wife that you had to take care of. It didn't seem fair to just show up on your door step and expect you to take care of me and Isabella."

"I would have taken care of you." Daniel said with a hurt tone.

"Daniel, you don't understand. It was months before I was able to walk again. I hate even seeing that wheelchair." Betty glanced over at the wheelchair beside the bench. "It just reminds me of the struggle I went through."

"You overcame it though."

"It still haunts me though. That night. The accident. It will always be with me."

"You have to find a way past it." Daniel moved closer. "I'm here now."

"You don't understand." Betty said tearfully.

"You didn't cause the accident, Betty. It was an accident. You are strong again. Isabella is a healthy and beautiful little girl."

He paused. "You are both here and because of that, I have to believe that there is hope that we can have a second chance. I want that chance."

"Daniel, there is more that I've never told anyone, except Christina. My family doesn't even know." The tears started to fall.

"What?"

"It's my fault. I was being punished."

"Punished for what? What happened?" Daniel pulled away slightly.

"I was punished because I should have told you. If I had told you about the pregnancy, you would have been there to protect us and maybe our son would be alive today."

"Son."

Betty nodded. "Isabella's twin brother."

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	16. Chapter 16

The Ties That Bind

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I appreicate them very much._

_Disclaimer: After two and half years of writing Ugly Betty fanfiction, I still don't own it._

**Chapter 16**

Daniel could feel a lump forming in his throat, making it impossible to swallow. His body was completely numb, making it impossible to feel anything by the shock and the sudden weight on the guilt that Betty had carried around for over six long years.

"We have twins." He tried to fight the tears back. He couldn't cry now. Betty needed him to be strong but he had to say it out loud to make it real.

_They had twins. _

"Yes." She said softly. Her eyes not meeting his, as Daniel watched a tear roll down her cheek, before she wiped it away. "I'm so sorry…"

"Betty, no…" He shook his head, as he took her hand in his, as they sat there in the garden together.

"Daniel, I am. I would do anything…"

"Just don't… I don't want to hear that you are sorry." He said cautiously, as he gazed down at the ground. His hand was still holding hers. "This isn't your fault. You couldn't have prevented it."

He had finally began to break through the wall that Betty had built around herself. Betty had carried this burden alone. It had changed her and it had taken its toll on her. It was the burden that she should never have carried alone…but she didn't have to carry it alone any longer.

_He wouldn't let her_.

Now, it was obvious that Betty had blamed herself. He wasn't innocent though. He could take some of the blame for their situation. He was far from perfect. At this moment, there wasn't anything that Daniel wouldn't give to turn back the clock and made the choice to stay in London, despite what she had told him about wanting a career.

He should have been more determined in his pursuit of her.. He should have been never let her think that he didn't love her for one single second. Their first night together should not have been their last night together. It should have been the beginning of the rest of their lives.

"It was an accident." He managed to utter, even as his own heart was breaking. "Things happen and sometimes we have no control over it."

"I never even got to see him or hold him." Betty said tearfully. "By the time, I was awake…"

"Betty…"

She looked at him, as he pulled his arm around her. "Yes."

"I love you." He said simply.

Even though he had questions about their son and her accident, it was the only three words that he could find that seemed right at the moment. Throwing questions about that time at her would only open the wounds that needed to heal.

Right now, any further inquiry wouldn't bring their son back. The answers would come in time. The most important thing now was helping Betty, by staying true to his word that no matter what it took he would get them through this and proving that she was still the only one he loved.

* * *

While Daniel cleaned up downstairs and putting the kids to bed, Betty closed her eyes and soaked in the bubble bath that Daniel had prepared for her. After her confession to Daniel in the park earlier today, Betty began to feel some relief from her guilt and Daniel's assurance that she didn't have to carry her grief alone.

In fact, Daniel was amazing. He had told her that when she was ready they would have their sons' ashes buried in the Meade plot and they would find a way to say good-bye to the son that neither of them got to meet. It could be as public or private as she wanted it to be. If she wanted it to be just them, it would be. If she wanted family there, he would take care of it.

His thoughtfulness had floored he. She knew that she deserved for him to walk away, despite his promise that he would do whatever it took to fix what was wrong. He didn't walk away. In fact, he became even more attentive and loving towards her.

She had expected that he would bombard her with questions about what his name was and the cause of death. But he didn't.

It was like a strange kind of irony that the one person that she had been so afraid to reach out to was the one person that knew how to help her.

The pain was still there but for the first time in years, Betty could see a light at the end of the tunnel and she actually believed that maybe at the end of that tunnel, that hope for her and Daniel's future would be waiting there.

_She could feel it. She just had to give into it._

There was a soft knock on the door. Betty's eyes flew open.

"Yes." Betty called out.

"Do you need any help?" Daniel asked from the other side of the door.

"I can manage." She looked around to figure out how she was going to manage to get out of the huge tub. Getting in had been easy enough. Pulling herself out was going to be another matter, especially with one injured foot.

"Are you sure?" He murmured through the solid door.

"Uh…yeah." She said hesitantly. "I'm sure…" The door opened and Daniel entered the bathroom.

Betty sunk lower, making sure the bubble were covering as much as possible. "Daniel…get out. I'm naked."

"Betty, I know what you look like naked."

"That was a long time ago." Betty took her eyes away from him. She could still feel his eyes on her though. "I told you that I can manage. Can you just get out please?"

"Keep it down. You are going to wake up Isabella. If she wakes up she is going to want to watch Finding Nemo again….for the third time." Daniel said in a whisper. "I promised her that we would get her a clown fish, just to get her to go to sleep."

"Bribing our child, Daniel." Betty gave her eyes a playfully roll. "Really!"

"Hey. It worked." Daniel grinned as he approached her. "She is sound asleep now."

"I guess, if it worked." Betty couldn't help but be a little amused at Daniel's methods. She took a deep breath and turned to look at him.

"Betty, let me help you out of there before you shrivel up."

"Fine…but you have to close your eyes." Betty watched Daniel grabbed a fresh towel and move towards her.

"If you insist…" He chuckled.

"And I mean, no peeking whatsoever." Betty knew that her body had never been perfect but she was very self-conscious now about the effect the years, giving birth to two babies and the scars that the accident had left.

"We are both adults. Betty, come on."

"No peeking." She repeated.

"Fine." He shut his eyes.

With her eyes focused on his to make sure they remained shut, Betty allowed Daniel to help her out of the tub. His eyes remained closed tightly the entire time. Once out of the tub, he held her, as she wrapped the towel around her, while she balanced on one foot.

"You can open your eyes now." She said, just as she secured the towel. She reached over to grab her crutches. He blocked her. "I need…"

"This is much quicker." He moved quickly to sweep her up into his arms.

"Daniel…" She held onto him firmly, as he carried her from the bathroom into the bedroom. "What are…"

Before she could finish her sentence though, he sat her down on the edge of the bed. Her heart thumped loudly as Daniel moved lower to study the scars on her legs.

His hand caressed her leg gently.

"Can I ask you a question?" Daniel's blue eyes met hers, as he gently let go of her leg.

"Uh…huh." The tingle of where his hand had been on her leg was still there.

"I have this party to go to next Saturday and I was wondering if you would be my date," said Daniel.

"Saturday?" Her heart fell a little. "I can't. I have to go to the book launch for the Maggie Daniel's new book. It's a work thing I can't get out of

"Me too."

"Really. Why would you go to the launch of romance novel? You were just making fun of me reading her books the other night."

"I actually know Maggie Daniels….pretty well."

"She's an old girlfriend." Betty asked cautiously. "Isn't she?"

"No. Nothing like that." He shook his head.

Then, it was like a switch that flipped. "Wait… you know, Maggie Daniels."

"I do."

"Can you get me an interview?" Betty felt a surge of excitement. "I've been trying so hard to find out more about her because she is impossible to track down."

"I…uh…she really doesn't do interviews. In fact, I think this is probably going to be the last book. She wants to settle down and focus on her family."

"Please…"

Daniel chuckled. "I don't know. I…"

"Oh…please, Daniel. You would be saving me. My boss has been on my back for weeks," said Betty.

"I'll ask." He said, as he sat down beside her on the edge of the bed.

Betty threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you." She gave him a quick kiss and then she pulled away. She didn't let go of him though. His eyes met hers directly.

"Betty…" He said softly. "Can I kiss you again?"

She nodded, as he moved forward once again to meet her lips. This time, the kiss was far from warm and sweet. It was fiery and passionate. It was a kiss that she could feel all the way in her toes.

With her hands still around his neck, she pulled him further back onto the bed with her. As they continued to kiss, she could feel Daniel's hand begin to peel open her towel. Her naked body exposed to his wondering hands.

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	17. Chapter 17

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments on this story. It means a lot to me._

**Chapter 17**

* * *

For seven years, Daniel had built a world inside of his mind; a mix of the real world and his own imagination.

_A world where he and Betty could live together happily as Dante and Antoinette. _

Right at this moment, Daniel felt like he was dropped into the middle of one of his books. With Betty on the bed beside him, he slid his hands gently over her body. He was totally consumed by everything about her.

The taste of her lips. The feeling of her soft skin against his hand. The sounds that she made as they kissed. If he died now, he would be a happy man.

_This feeling. _

Daniel knew that he would never be able to capture this feeling in words to be able to put it down in writing for one of his books.

In fact, the longer they went on, the more that Daniel knew that his books were a pale comparison to what he actually felt for the woman who was now in his arms, pressing her body against his and deepening their kiss and giving him this feeling.

Even with the painful truths revealed today, Daniel knew that reality was so much better than anything that he could imagine. He preferred reality with her; the good and the bad. Nothing mattered as long as they were together.

"Oh…Betty." He breathed out, as Betty pulled her lips away from his. Her head went back against the mattress. He continued his exploration of her because he had every intention of showing her exactly how he felt about her.

"Daniel…I don't know if we should do this." Betty said breathlessly, as he began trailing kisses down her neck.

He pulled his eyes back up to hers and brought his lips to hers with a light kiss. "The kids are asleep…and I locked the door."

"It's not just that." Betty pulled at the towel to cover her body and turned her head away from Daniel.

"Then, what is it?" Daniel brought his hand to her stomach. "I love you, Betty."

His hand slipped away as Betty pulled herself into the sitting position on the edge of the bed, leaving him lying there. Daniel was a little shaken that she had brought things to such a screeching halt, especially when minutes earlier, she had agreed to the kiss that ignite the flame within him.

"You don't have to say that to me, Daniel. I know you are just trying to be nice to make me forget," Betty pulled the towel around her completely. "Or make me feel better….or whatever."

Daniel's head fell back against the bed in frustration. His eyes directed at the ceiling. "This isn't about that. It's more than that."

"You are hurting, Daniel. I hurt you." Betty said solemnly.

"Yes…but this isn't about…"

"And that's why we can't do this. You are using sex to try to forget that I hurt you….and that we lost our son." Betty lowered her head shamefully. "I can't let you do that."

"I want to make love to you because I love you, Betty. I want this. I want us. I've told you that over and over."

He continued. "And before you say that I don't love you….or that I'm just mixed up. I'm just going to say that I've loved you for seven years….probably even longer than that if I really think about it."

"You don't deserve me. You deserve someone better. I want you to have someone better than me."

"Stop it." Daniel sat up quickly as he felt a surge of anger. "Just stop it. I want to be with you, Betty. I don't want anyone else." He got up and started pacing the room.

"What about Adrianna? You almost slept with her." She lifted her eyes up to his.

"That was stupid, Betty." Daniel groaned. "I shouldn't have even gone there with her. She told me that she could help me get over you."

"Jumping into bed with someone always does the trick." Betty bit back. "It just complicates things. I figured you would have learned that by now."

"I know. And for the record, Betty, I'm not the playboy that I used to be. In seven years, I've only been with two women, since you and I got together in London."

"Two women. That's all. Well, you are still way ahead of me."

"What?" Daniel couldn't believe it. "You can't tell you that there was no one."

"There was no one, Daniel. I've been a little busy raising a child, recovering from my accident and getting my career back. I didn't have time like you did."

"Give me a break, Betty. There were only two in seven….I repeat….seven years…and both of those fell apart pretty quickly because…"

"Because of what?"

"They weren't you, Betty." He said adamantly. He grabbed her pajamas from the top of the dresser and brought them over. It was obvious that nothing was going to happen tonight. He tossed them on the bed beside her. He was suddenly not in the mood anymore.

"Stop it, Daniel. Stop doing that." Betty wiped away a tear.

"Stop what…telling you the truth because I think, personally, it's time we told each other everything."

"Stop putting me on some pedestal. I'm not perfect." Betty stared over at the pajamas on the bed, as she continued to clutch the towel to her body.

"Well then you need to stop berating me because I actually tried to have relationships with other woman, when obviously you haven't gotten any in seven years."

Betty's mouth hung open. "You are such a jerk."

He glanced over at the book on Betty's bedside table and then back to her. "You think I'm a jerk. You seem to get your kicks from reading those books. I guess you want me to be like Dante…some perfect guy or something."

"That's part of my job, Daniel. You know that."

"Fine…Anyway, I never said you were perfect, Betty. I love you no matter what. Good or bad…happy or sad. I want a life with you and I just don't know what I'm going to have to do to prove that to you." He glanced over at the book again. "I'm starting to wonder if there just isn't a way to prove it too you."

"Daniel…" Betty said tearfully. "I just don't want us to make another mistake."

"Another mistake?" Daniel narrowed his eyes, as he felt his blood begin to boil. It seemed impossible that only a moment ago, he and Betty were so close together. Right now, he never felt further away from her.

He didn't think there was anything else to say now. Perhaps, Betty was right. Getting involved would be a mistake.

Because they obviously couldn't get it right. They failed seven years ago. They would fail again and this time, it wasn't just about them.

The only thing they would do is just hurt each other. It seemed that was the only thing they knew how to do.

"Say something." Betty gazed up at him.

"There's nothing left to say. You think it would be a mistake for us to…." He couldn't even say it. It hurt too much.

"Daniel, I don't regret what happened in London. If we hadn't gotten together, we wouldn't have Isabella." She paused for a moment. "I just don't see how this is going to work."

"You don't want it to work, Betty."

It was that simple. He had done everything. He had cared for her. He had tried to show her how much he loved her and how much he wanted to make this work. It didn't matter though. Nothing he could do or say was ever going to be good enough.

He took a deep breath and prepared himself to say what he knew was going to break his own heart. However, breaking his heart was probably the best way to start a new chapter.

_One without Betty in it._

"In the morning, I have the town car take you back to Queens," said Daniel, in a business-like way. "I will send Isabella home after school on Monday."

"Daniel, come on. You sound like you hate me."

"I'll take her every other weekend. We can switch off on the holidays. I get her at Thanksgiving and you can have Christmas. I'll make sure that you and Isabella are taken care of."

"Daniel, that's not what I want."

"Then what do you want from me? You obviously don't want a normal family for Isabella. And you sure as hell don't want me?"

"I care about you." Betty said sincerely. "I'm just….

"Afraid to try, Betty. The Betty that I used to know wouldn't be this afraid. I guess the Betty that I know and fell in love with... is gone. I just have to face that."

Tears began to stream down Betty's face. The same tears that always softened Daniel's heart, it just made him want to reach out and take her in his arms and never let go.

"Can we just talk about this?" She wiped away the tears.

"It's not going to change anything. You don't love me, Betty."

Daniel turned around and went back into the bathroom. He picked up her crutches and took a deep breath before he turned around and came back into the living room.

He leaned the crutches again the bed. "Good Night, Betty." He turned and left the room.

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	18. Chapter 18

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the comments and feedback._

**Chapter 18**

As soon as the bedroom door clicked shut and Betty heard the sound of Daniel making his way back down the hall to his room, Betty knew that she had made a huge mistake.

She wanted to rush after him. Of course, she looked over at her crutches and down at her state of dress and realized that wasn't an option. Perhaps it would be for the best though. Daniel needed time to cool off before she could try to talk to him. If they continued this conversation tonight, there was no telling what other things would be said that couldn't be taken back.

Or what damage would be done.

As Betty reached for her pajamas, she stopped abruptly and realized that the damage had already been done and possibly, there would be no coming back from this.

No forgiveness this time. No more second chances.

The meaning behind the tone in Daniel's voice and the look in his eye was clear. She had broken his heart. Here Daniel was pouring everything into trying to make things work. He had given her the forgiveness she wanted and the love that she had longed for. And what did she do?

She stomped all over his heart and blocked every single attempt he had made.

Betty quickly pulled on her nightgown and robe and got her crutches. She quickly made her way down the hall to Daniel's room, knocking softly on the door.

She prayed that he would answer. After a few seconds, there still wasn't an answer. There was no way to describe how desperate she felt now. She needed Daniel to know what she was feeling.

As she gazed down at the door knob, the voice in her head told her to just open it and go inside. What was the worst that could happen? He already probably hated her for hurting him again.

The least she could do was TRY again.

Just as she touched the handle, the door opened and there stood Daniel, causing her to jump suddenly a bit. Her pulse raced. The look in his eyes was somewhere between happy to see her and heartbreak.

"Can I come in?" She moved forward before he could answer. She didn't care if the answer was no.

"Betty, I don't want to get into this anymore. I just can't…" He held onto the door.

"Close the door. I don't want to wake Isabella and Brandon." Betty asked, as she made her way towards the bed. She wished that she had more time to think through what she was going to say. There wasn't time though. She had seven years to think about it.

He closed the door. "I don't want to fight with you anymore. I said what I needed to say and…"

"I love you too." Betty looked up at him timidly.

"Wh…"

"Please I need to say this before I change my mind or get scared." She interrupted as she gazed down at her trembling hands. "I can't tell you how sorry that I am for hurting you."

"Betty…" He stepped towards her.

"I've made so many mistakes and we both have paid the price for it. And I've felt like if I kept all the guilt for myself, then it would keep you from feeling any pain."

She added. "But all I keep doing is hurting myself and hurting you too."

"You can't take all of it, Betty. This isn't just about you. It's about us…and our family. We have to deal with this together, if we want this to work. I just need to know what you want."

"I want you, Daniel. I want our family. I just want to be happy again."

"You do." Daniel said plainly. "Really?"

"Yes." Betty's eyes watered. "I do."

Daniel crossed the room, practically knocking her back against the bed and her crutches clattering to the floor. His hand gently supported her, as he lowered her back onto the bed. Her head hit the pillows as his lips met hers. His body hovered over her, eager to pick up where they left off.

"I'm sorry." She said as she tried to catch her breath between kisses. "I was stupid…." He brought his lips to her again, cutting her off abruptly.

"We've both been stupid." His forehead rested against hers. His breath was heavy.

"Me more than you. You could have turned your back and me and hated me. You've been so good to me and I've treated you horribly." She looked directly in his eyes.

"Do you really want this?" He asked cautiously.

"Yes." Betty nodded.

"Then, I think we need to focus on the future and try to put as much of our mistakes in the past as we can and remember what is really important," said Daniel. "And that is that we love each other."

"Yes." Betty's lips met his once again.

* * *

After their passionate reunion, Daniel was now filled with a new hope of the things that lied ahead now that Betty had finally allowed herself to give into a chance to be happy again. He knew that it wasn't going to be easy. They would probably face more up-hill battles and fights, despite the promises they made to one another. He was sure they could get through it…especially when the making up was so much fun.

He reached across the bed, expecting to find Betty's warm body there. The only thing he found was the cool sheets and an empty pillow.

She was gone and the lack of warmth on the sheets indicated that she had been gone for quiet sometime.

Daniel jumped out of bed and pulled on some clothes to investigate. Did she go back to her room? Was she taking care of one of the kids? Did she change her mind and go back to Queens without a word?

He hurried down the hall. The kids were out of bed. Betty's room was empty. As he heard for the stairs, he could hear the television on downstairs.

As he made his way down the stairs, he could hear noise coming from the kitchen, as well. The smell of bacon lingered in the air. He could hear voices coming from the kitchen, causing Daniel to relax, knowing that Betty was still here.

"Mommy, why were you in Daddy's room last night?" Isabella asked from her seat at the kitchen table.

Daniel paused outside in the hallway to hear her reply before making his presence known.

"Uh…Mommy was…checking to make sure he was warm enough."

"Did you check for monsters under the bed too?" Isabella asked.

"Yep. No monsters."

Daniel came around the corner and saw Betty cooking pancakes. "Something smells good."

"Daniel!" Betty stood in front of the stove, bracing herself with one of her crutches with one hand and holding a spatula with the other. "Good Morning."

"Good Morning, Beautiful." Daniel kissed her on the cheek. Betty's cheeks were flushed with pink.

"Eww…." Brandon wrinkled his nose "Gross."

"Do you need any help?" Daniel chuckled at his son's comment, as his heart filled with happiness that she was still here and that she hadn't grabbed the next cab back to Queens.

"No. I've got it." Betty smiled.

"Are you sure? You should probably stay off that foot."

"Actually, my foot is already feeling better. I think that I got the right medicine last night," said Betty playfully. "Oh….wait! You can take these over to Isabella and Brandon." She handed the two plates to Daniel. They paused for a moment, and he leaned forward for a quick peck before proceeding over to the table to place a plate in front of the children.

He moved back over to Betty. "Anything else?"

"You can get your own coffee." Betty said.

He leaned over and whispered in her ear. "I missed you when I woke up this morning."

Betty just smiled at him and it filled him with relief that everything was felt like it was normal. He grabbed a cup of coffee and the newspaper and sat down.

"Daddy, Do Mommy and I have to go back to Grandpa's house?" Isabella's little blue eyes sparkled, as she reached for the small cup of orange juice. "I want to stay here with you."

"No. I want you both to live here." Daniel glanced over at Betty, waiting for her to give a refusal. "If it's okay with your mother."

"Mommy, can we live here?" Isabella asked.

"As long as she doesn't take my room." Brandon added.

Daniel turned to Brandon. "You will both have your own room."

"Will Mommy have her own room?" Isabella asked innocently. "Or does she have to share with Daddy again?"

Daniel grinned, as he turned to meet Betty's eyes. "So….are you okay with it, Betty?"

He just waited for her answer. He knew it was probably wrong to put her on the spot like this but he knew that even with Isabella's question, it was a subject that he wanted to bring up with Betty very soon.

"Sure. Sweetie." Betty went back to cooking without any sign of hesitation.

"Yeah!" Isabella cheered.

Daniel chuckled as he unfolded the newspaper. His eyes fell down onto the front page and saw Adrianna's picture there.

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	19. Chapter 19

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I appreicate it very much_**. **

**Chapter 19**

Betty had always known that Daniel was a handsome man but as she watched him get dressed in front of the full-length mirror, she could barely control the butterflies that were dancing in her stomach.

Just looking at him, she felt a burst of hopefulness and happiness that she had not felt in years and she owed it all to the man who stood before her. The memories of last night were so fresh in her mind- the way he made love to her, the way he showed her that the wanted her…and only her…and most importantly that he truly love her and would never break her heart.

It made her realized once again that she should have had more faith in Daniel years ago. Because he was everything that she needed and everything she wanted. The past didn't matter now because they had found each other again and they were all going to be a family.

Not that she was rushing things. Right now, marriage was not even on her mind. She just wanted to enjoy each day they had together and open herself up to what the possibilities could be and allow herself to start to live again.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry that I have to run out. I forgot there's some business that I need to attend to at the foundation office." Daniel turned to her, as he continued to button his white shirt.

"It's Sunday. Can't it wait until tomorrow, Daniel?"

"I'm afraid not." He said reluctantly. "It shouldn't take long though.

"We could go with you and then maybe go to the park," said Betty.

"I think you should rest."

"Okay. I was really looking forward to spending the day with you and the kids and ….I know that Isabella really wanted to go pick out her furniture for her new room since this is our new home now."

Daniel moved toward her, coming to rest beside her on the wooden bench at the end of the bed. "I didn't mean to put any pressure on you, if you aren't ready, we can wait a little while."

"I'm ready, Daniel." His hand rested on hers. "I do think that it will be the best thing for all of us. Isabella needs her dad. Brandon seems to really like having Isabella around."

"He asked me earlier this week if you were going to be his new mother."

"Really." Betty smiled. She knew that Brandon would never replace her son but just knowing that Brandon say that warmed her heart.

"Yeah. He did. He actually asked me the night you told me about Isabella."

"Awkward." Betty tightened her eyes and pulled her eyes away from his. "You probably told him no."

"No. I didn't. I just told him that I didn't know…because even when I was mad at you, it was what I wanted down deep. It's what I've always wanted. Now I can honestly tell him that someday you will be his new mother when the time is right." He brought his hand up and made her look at him. "Okay?"

"Okay." She nodded.

"You know I still wonder about that DNA test and why the results told me that Isabella wasn't my daughter," said Daniel.

"Actually, I figured it out. You took my toothbrush."

"Oh…" He chuckled. "But I took the Princess toothbrush."

"We both had one. Mine was the purple one…and…"

"She had the pink one." Daniel chuckled. "I grabbed the wrong one."

"Yep." Betty smiled.

"Well, at least we know you and I aren't related." Daniel leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.

"Yeah…because that would make last night really awkward." Betty said playfully. "But…seriously, I have no doubt that the twins were yours. If you want to do another…"

"No. I don't need another test." He said reassuringly. "The only thing I do want is for her to have my name."

"I think we can do that." She nodded and kissed him again.

As he kissed her, Betty felt her whole body begin to tingle as he deepened the kiss. When he finally pulled away, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Are you sure that you have to go?" She asked him again, giving him a soft kiss to try to convince him to stay here. "Isn't there anything I can do to convince you to stay?"

"Uh…I want to but this can't really wait. I have a problem….employee…or actually former employee that I need to deal with." Daniel said regrettably. "But I promise to make it up to you when I get home and we can spend some quality time together catching up.

"If you put it that way, I guess I can manage without you for a few hours."

"There are some really important things I want to talk you about tonight. I'm going to call my mom and see if she can entertain the kids for a few hours, so we can have some time alone."

"That sounds even better. I guess I really should get some work done too since I have to go back tomorrow…and I know that with you around I probably won't get much work done," said Betty.

"You are probably right." Daniel said affectionately.

"Oh…Do you mind if I use your laptop since someone forgot to get mine when they picked up my things? I need to check my email."

"Sure…it's in the study. Help yourself." He stood up. "I'll go out to Queens and pick up your laptop tomorrow."

"What would I do without you?" Betty felt her heart swell.

"Now that I have you, I promise you'll never have to be without me again." He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.

* * *

As Daniel sat in his office, he glared at the photo of Adrianna and the article underneath the photo. He couldn't believe that she would do this. Every word of the story was a lie. She knew it too.

"Well, I was so surprised to hear from you, Daniel."

Daniel glanced up to see the source of his frustration. Adrianna stood in the doorway with a vindictive smirk on her face.

"You are full of it, Adrianna." He held up the newspaper up and stood up behind his desk. "You are very aware of reason that I wanted to see you."

"I had hoped you would be calling so that we could try kissing and make up." Adrianna moved closer.

"Why did you tell them that Maggie Daniel's books were written by a man who you had a seven-year relationship with…and that Antoinette were based on you? That's a lie…and you know it. You need to retract this now." Daniel tossed the newspaper back on his desk.

"And tell them what…" Adrianna laughed.

"That you lied." Daniel said bluntly.

"Well, I didn't completely lie." She came to rest on the edge of the desk. "The books were written by you…and you are quite a man." She looked him up and down appreciatively.

"We never had a relationship." Daniel said adamantly.

"My word against yours. It's not my fault that you wanted to keep it secret. Anyway, there are plenty of people who know we have some history."

"There was no relationship. Just stop it now. So maybe we did start a brief fling….but it was brief and it didn't go far. It was a mistake, Adrianna. A mistake."

He continued. "The whole thing was stupid. I was insane to think that it was a good idea, especially when I didn't love you…and that I have been and always will be in love with…"

"Your precious Betty." Adrianna laughed. "The woman who kept the truth about both of your children from you."

"Excuse me." Daniel narrowed his eyes.

"Yes. I know about your son."

"What…how did you know?"

"I like to do my homework. I have to tell you. Your little Ms. Betty's life is even better than one of your books."

"There are no secrets between Betty and I."

_Not anymore anyway…..well, except his own secret about the books, which was something that he planned to correct as soon as he got home and could sit down and tell her everything._

"HA!" Adrianna laughed. "Are you sure about that there are no more secrets, Daniel? Can you really trust her?"

"Yes. I do." Daniel was not going to let Adrianna plant the seed of doubt in his mind about Betty. She seemed determined to rip them apart and there wasn't going to let that happen. "I love her and she's going to be my wife."

"Wow…you don't waste any time, Daniel." Adrianna laughed. "Just a few days ago, you were about to have sex with me to forget her and now you are talking about marriage with her. Unbelievable."

"Just wait until I tell Betty about what a bad boy you've been."

"I haven't done anything." Daniel said adamantly.

"Not yet…but you will." Adrianna said seductively. "I guarantee you that you will do whatever I want you to."

"I'm not doing anything with you. I'll come out with the story now. I will tell the world that I'm Maggie Daniels and that the story was based on my love for Betty." He reached for the phone. "And then you can go to..."

Adrianna placed her hand on his, stopping him. "Not so fast. If you do that, you will never know the complete truth. The truth that even your little Betty doesn't know about her accident."

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	20. Chapter 20

**The Ties That Bind **

_Author's Note: Thank you for the comments and feedback. Doesn't seem to much love for Adrianna...LOL. What can I say she's determined to get her claws into Daniel. She doesn't like to lose._

* * *

**Chapter 20**

Betty opened Daniel's laptop and powered it on. As she waited, she stared over at the photo of her that sat on the corner of Daniel's desk. Of course, it was not the first time that she had seen the photo she and Daniel had come back together.

She recalled that it was the same photo that Brandon had shown her the night she had told Daniel about Isabella. Seeing it here though made her realize that it was far from a recent addition to his office decor. It was a permanent fixture here.

If she hadn't already been convinced that she had been in Daniel's heart all this time, that photo would have been proof enough for her.

She felt her heart flutter as she thought about all the great things that lied ahead for them: marriage….watching Isabella and Brandon growing up….maybe another baby along the way if they were lucky.

As she opened her email, she began to scan through the endless list, half of which were from her over-bearing boss. Then one caught her eye, the subject line reads Maggie Daniels.

She opened and scanned through the email, telling her about the news that the Maggie Daniels' books were written by a man and that Betty would be doing an exclusive interview with Adrianna Carson about her seven-year relationship with the elusive author. Ms. Carson had agreed to reveal the identity of the man.

_Why did that name sounds so familiar? Adrianna?_

Betty scrolled down further, hoping for a photo. There was no luck though. Perhaps, she could search the internet to find out more information on her.

"There you are."

She turned around in the chair and smiled when she saw Daniel. "You are back."

He approached her. "Yeah. I see that Mom came by and got the kids?"

"Yes…" Betty closed out her email, eager to see what information she could give him on Maggie Daniels. Because if he knew who wrote those books, he obviously knew that it wasn't a woman who wrote them. She would have to make a point to ask him about that later. "And we had a little chat."

"About?" Daniel asked inquisitively, as he leaned in over her shoulder from behind. He kissed her cheek.

"Mostly about the fact that I hid the fact that I had your child...or actually, children."

"I wish she would stay out of it." Daniel groaned. "That's our business."

"It's okay, Daniel. It's better that we deal with it now." She took a deep breath. "I told her about the accident…and about our son…and about the struggles that I went through."

"What did she say?"

"She actually was very understanding. I guess she figured that I had already punished myself enough and didn't need someone else telling me how stupid that I was."

"My mom does know a thing or two about hiding stuff from the people who love her….and all the reasons that someone would do such a thing."

"I told her that I felt horrible…"

Daniel cut her off. "You don't need to keep doing that, Betty. I've forgiven you. What happened….the mistakes….everything that happened is between us. We will deal with all of it together. You don't need to carry this alone anymore. There is nothing we can't deal with."

She moved forward to the edge of the seat. "You are right." She smiled. "I believe that, Daniel. I really do."

And Betty had faith that they would deal with anything that came there way because for the first time in a long time, she had a renewed faith in the man she loved.

* * *

There was a time in his life when Daniel had played a game or two. He had played with a few hearts and managed not to get burned. But…he wasn't that guy anymore. Nor did he care to re-visit those days of Daniel Meade-The Carefree Bachelor.

He was now Daniel Meade-Loving Father and hopefully, soon-to-be, loving husband to Betty. He couldn't afford to play the games that Adrianna wanted to play with him. The stakes were way too high and he had way too much to lose.

It would be a cold day in hell before Daniel would give into Adrianna's request to pick up where they left off the other day, in exchange for what she called a key piece of information about his and Betty's son that died in London six years ago.

He couldn't say that he wasn't intrigued about what information she had….if she even had any information at all. It was completely possible that she was just using a painful piece of his and Betty's past, as bait to get what she wanted.

The price in her mind: HIM.

And he was not biting because the only woman he wanted was the one that was now wrapped in his arms. His lips on hers. His hands on her body.

Betty pulled away slightly. "I thought you wanted to talk. Doesn't seem like we've talked much since you got home."

"I just can't get enough of you." Daniel dove into place a kiss on her neck in hopes that they could get in another round in before his mother returned with the kids.

"Daniel….seriously, what did you want to talk to me about?" She still allowed his access. "You made it seem pretty important this morning. So…important that you wanted the kids to go with your mother so we could be alone….to talk."

"It is…actually, there are a lot of things. I don't even know where to start." He pulled away and relaxed against the pillow. He felt Betty pull her body up against his and allowed her hands to dance across his bare chest.

"Start with the most important thing?" She suggested.

"Well…." He turned his head towards her. "I think the most important thing that I want to tell you is that I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Me too." She said sweetly.

"And I need you to remember that because I have something really important to tell you about the time that we were apart and I'm not sure how you are going to take it."

He stared into Betty's brown eyes and took a deep breath. "Since I got back to New York, I've been involved in a lot of things. I started the foundation in Molly's name…and I have another career that I didn't really tell anyone about. It's been a secret from everyone, except one or two people. My mom doesn't even know."

"Oh…okay." Betty glanced at him suspicously. Daniel could tell that Betty had no idea where this was going.

"You know that I've never been much of a writer. In fact, I know you remember that I used to get other people to write my letters from the editor at MODE." Daniel knew he was dragging his feet.

"You are a great writer, Daniel….but I really don't understand what this has to do with anything."

"I'm getting there." Daniel could feel himself growing more and more anxious. "Anyway, once I came back to New York….I missed you so much, Betty. I came so close to getting back on that plane about 100 times and telling you that I loved you and that I would be as patient as I needed to be. You could have a career and….me too."

"Oh…Daniel. I wished that you had." Betty said regrettably, as she stroked his cheek.

"I should have." He nodded in agreement. How different life would have been if he had followed his gut. "And because I didn't...I had to find a way to deal with the feelings that I had for you."

"And how did you do that?"

"I started writing." Daniel confessed.

"Well, writing can be a type of therapy. What did you write? Poetry? Short Stories?" Betty asked.

"I actually wrote a series of books." Daniel said plainly.

"A series…that's great." Betty said cheerfully. "Why did you tell me? What are they called? What are they about?"

"The books are a love story that takes places over a span of time. It's about two people who were are thrown together unexpectedly…and at first they hate each other but slowly they become very close. It's mostly an unrequited love story…until the two meet again in London on…"

"On the steps in Trafalgar Square." She finished the sentence.

"Yes." He nods nervously.

"Dante? You?"

"Yep…And you would be Antoinette."

Betty sat up and turned towards the other side of the bed away from him. "You are Maggie Daniels. You wrote those books."

"I did." He sat up and placed his hand on her back. "Betty, please turn around

"Adrianna….now I know where I remember that name from. She was the woman you had here that day." Betty shook her head. "She was here in this bed."

"Actually, we were in my office." He added.

"Not helping, Daniel." Betty snapped back.

"Did you have a relationship with her?" Betty said hesistantly.

"No. I didn't." Daniel said honestly.

"Well, she said that she had a seven-year relationship with the man who wrote the Maggie Daniels' books. She is even saying that the character of Antoinette is on her." Betty turned around to face him, still holding the sheet against her.

"Adrianna and I grew up together. I hired her last year to be my publicist…but I fired her when she told me she started talking about how our daughter was a mistake and how you didn't really love me. She was about the only person that knew that truth about who the books were based on."

"So...she was getting back at you?"

"Yes...What happened that day was a one-thing thing….and it was really stupid. You have to believe me. You can't believe anything that she is claiming. The only woman I love is you….and she just can't handle that. Adrianna is just angry because she doesn't like to lose."

"Betty, you have to believe me." He pleaded, like his life depended on it. In a way, it did. His life with Betty depended on it.

"Daniel…." She lifted her eyes to his and smiled. "I believe you."

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	21. Chapter 21

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I really appreicte them...and they inspire me to keep writing._

**Chapter 21**

Inside the Starbucks a few blocks from Betty's office, Daniel sat and waited for Adrianna to show up for their meeting. It was not something that he was practically looking forward too. He has had enough of her unwanted sexual advances for his lifetime.

What he was looking forward to was getting home tonight and spending time with Betty and the kids. For the past three days, they had "officially" been living together as a family. For the first time, it really truly felt like a home. Having Betty and Isabella, there was unbelievable. And though, it had not been without its challenges. They were all settling into their new life, almost seamlessly

"I miss you." Daniel looked down at the text that came over his phone. It was from Betty.

"Miss you too." He replied back.

"Is she there yet?"

"Not yet. I'll bring you coffee when I'm done." He quickly sent back a text.

"Great. I finished your last book…and I wanted to give you my personal review, face-to-face." She replied back. "Maybe, do a reenactment of my favorite parts."

"Oh…that sounds promising. Which part?" His mind wandered through the book. There were a lot of hot scenes through the book.

"You will just have to wait and find out."

"LOL…Okay. But Sweetie, I think you might be a bit biased now to give a proper review. We are sleeping together." He quickly finished up as he saw Adrianna walking through the front door. "See you soon." He stuck his phone back into his pocket.

"Hello, Daniel." Adrianna slid into the chair beside him. Her hand moves over onto his knee.

He pushed her hand away. "That's inappropriate."

"Yes. Of course, we wouldn't want the little woman to find out, would we?" Adrianna whispered seductively.

"I've got nothing to hide…"

"Yet." Adrianna grasped the strand of pearls around her neck and smiled mischievously. Her blouse was so low-cut and left little to the imagination. Daniel pulled his eyes away, not wanting to encourage her. Not that Adrianna needed much encouragement; she was never shy about going after anything she wanted….and getting it at all costs. It was probably the reason she was voted most likely to succeed in their high school graduating class.

"I came here to tell you that I'm not interested in your offer." Daniel had no plans of telling Adrianna that Betty had taken the story to her boss and that the magazine that she worked for was planning to break the real story about Maggie Daniels and the real story…behind the stories. And the interview that Adrianna had planned to give the magazine would never see the light of day and would take the spotlight away from her.

But now, Daniel needed to get as much information to try to find out what information that Adrianna had- _if any_- about his and Betty's son. Under no circumstances though was he going to sleep with her to get it.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I was so hoping that we could come to some type of agreement, Daniel." He felt her foot brush up against his. He pulled that away too. "You play hard to get….and you know that just make me even more determined to win."

"Well, you should have never come out and said that we had a relationship." Daniel snapped back. "It's because of you that Betty is barely talking to me now and she won't even consider getting back together with me."

Daniel knew it was a lie. Adrianna didn't know that though. He didn't want her to know what cards he was holding in this game. A game that Daniel did not want to play….but he knew he had no choice. There could be a lot at stake here.

"Awww…Trouble in paradise. Did your fairy tale not turn out the way you wanted? I was expecting an invitation to the wedding."

"No." He said sharply.

"Well, my spies tell me that she has been staying at your house."

"For Isabella...She is only staying until Isabella adjusts to everything. It's for my daughter's benefit, not mine" Daniel pulled his eyes away and hoped that was being convincing enough. "Any future I had with her was shot to hell when I confessed that I wrote the Maggie Daniels' book and then your lies about our relationship added fuel to the fire….and not to mention it didn't help matters when she saw you coming out of my house that day when she brought over Isabella's bags."

"I think our problem has been solved then. I don't know why you are fighting it, Daniel." She leaned in closer.

"I'm not bowing for your demand. I don't even know what information you have. For all, I know you have nothing. You are just using something….that is extremely painful to get what you want from me." Daniel narrowed his eyes.

"If you come back to my apartment, I can show you."

"If we go back to your apartment, I'm sure that you want to show me more than… just some information." Daniel said bluntly.

"You know me so well," Adrianna gave him a flirtatious smile.

"What information do you have?" Daniel asked.

Adrianna said. "Well, I could tell you…but you really need to see it with your own eyes to believe it."

"Listen…" Daniel sighed and wondered why he was even bothering. "I can't say that I wasn't upset when I found out that Betty hid our children from me…but there is nothing you can show me that will bring him back."

"Ahh….Daniel." She leaned across the table. "That's where you are mistaken." She reached for her bag, pulling out a piece of paper and sliding across the table.

* * *

When Betty heard her office door open, she was happy to see that it was Daniel with the coffee that he had promised her earlier. She was also happy that he had seemed to have survived the meeting with Adrianna and he seemed to escape without any claw marks that she could see at the moment.

Perhaps, a closer examination might be needed, as she assessed Daniel appreciatively. Just looking at him caused her tingle all over.

"Lock the door, please." Betty asked.

"Any particular reason?" Daniel asked curiously. He moved across the room, making his way around the desk. He placed the coffee on the desk. "Here is that coffee I promised you."

Betty grinned at him and reached for him. "And here is what I promised you." She pulled him down with her, as she slipped from her chair and sank onto the floor behind her desk, taking him with her. She never pulled her lips away from his, until they had no choice but to come up for air.

"So…I take it you liked the book." Daniel lied flat on his back, as she frantically unbuttoned his shirt.

"Yes. I liked it." She said before her lips came back to his. Her hands wandered inside his shirt and her fingers danced across his chest. Her eyes met his. "And I love you."

"I love you so much." He gazed up at her as she lay atop of him, hating that he had to bring this passionate encounter to a halt. Daniel knew that he had no choice though.

He sat up, taking her with him. She continued to straddle his lap, as he came to rest against the wall. He could never get enough of being this close to her after being apart for so long.

"Is everything okay" Betty asked hesitantly.

"Oh…yes. Believe me. I would love to continue this and we will…" He brought his lips back to hers quickly before slowly moving away. "I just really need to talk to you. It's important."

"Is this about the meeting with Adrianna?"

"Yes." He could sense that Betty was extremely threatened by Adrianna. He couldn't blame her. "First of all, you have nothing to worry about. I love you and you are the one I want to be with."

"Why am I sensing a but…here?" Betty started to move away but Daniel held her in place.

"I have to go meet with Adrianna tonight." Daniel knew that Betty was going to hate it. "She wants me to come to her apartment….alone."

"You can't even be considering it." She pulled her eyes away from his. "Are you?"

"Betty, I have to."

"Why? You know she is only interested in getting you into bed," said Betty. "You told me that yourself. I just don't understand why you would put yourself in that position. I thought that what we had….meant something. You said you loved me."

"I do love you." He lifted his hand to cheek. "And that's why I have to do this for us…and our family."

Daniel knew that he couldn't hold back the information from Betty any longer….even if it did end up leading to something painful. They would be able to get through the pain together.

But to go on without knowing the answer to the important question that were now put into his mind by Adrianna would be even more painful for him to carry for the rest of his life.

"I don't understand. What information could she possibly have?"

"She has information about our son." Daniel said tearfully. "He might be alive."

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	22. Chapter 22

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I really appreciate each and every one of them. You guys are awesome. _

**Chapter 22**

* * *

Daniel rang the doorbell outside of Adrianna's apartment. As he waited for her answer the door, he knew he should probably prepare himself for anything. He had known Adrianna long enough that she had a full bag of tricks and she was very resourceful. Because of that, Daniel knew that he needed be ready to deflect any of the unwanted advances that she would likely throw his way.

He needed to remain focused on the reason that he was here. He needed to find out what other information Adrianna had about his and Betty's son. A son that Betty never got to see or hold and had left an empty space in her heart….and now his.

If there was even a glimmer of hope that there was a mistake and their son was alive, Daniel knew that he would go to the end of the earth to find him and even if Adrianna wasn't cooperative, he would spend every last dime to find the same information that apparently Adrianna had been resourceful enough to find.

When the door finally opened, Daniel quickly discovered that his instincts had been right on the money. Adrianna stood there in a red negligée. In fact, it left nothing to the imagination because he could see right through it, just like he could see right through her and could see that she only had one thing on her mind.

Daniel pulled his eyes away. "Could you put some clothes on?"

He knew he should have walked away….probably even ran away as fast as his feet would carry him. It wasn't an option. He just needed 15 minutes and he was out of there. Betty would be texting him in 15 minutes and that is when he would tell Adrianna he had to go.

At this rate, Adrianna would be naked in 15 seconds or less.

Adrianna turned and walked back inside, leaving the door open for him to enter. "It's my apartment. I can wear as much or as little as I like."

Daniel drew in a shaky breath and proceeded inside with caution, closing the door behind him. He shifted his mind to Betty and their life together and pushed away any temptation that may be lingering, due to the life that he once led in past years. "Whatever…I just want to get down to business. Okay?"

Adrianna spun around and sending him an amorous gaze that looked as if she was about to devour him. "Now we're talk'n."

Daniel started to back away, but before he could blink, Adrianna pounced and had her arms around his neck. Her lips headed directly for his, as she pushed him against the wall forcefully.

His first thought was that she was stronger than she appeared. His next thought as she ranked her hand down his chest and she reached for his belt was that he needed to get out of here.

It was clear that she meant business….her kind of business. It would be so easy to give her what he wanted and get the information he wanted. But he couldn't do that, this was the kind of business transaction that would get him in all kinds of trouble with Betty and jeopardize the life they had just begun to rebuild with her and their family.

"Stop! That's not what I meant and you know it." He slipped away before Adrianna could close the distance.

"Playing hard to get." Adrianna laughed, as she moved toward the kitchen, where there was two glasses and a bottle of wine. "Well, we do have all night."

"I don't have all night. I have to go home. I have responsibilities. Brandon is sick and I need to get home."

"Well, you have little Ms. Betty there. She can take care of the little one until you get home," said Adrianna. "In the morning."

"I really need to get back." Daniel said uncomfortably. "So….if you don't mind, I really want to get it on…. I mean, get on with this."

With her back turned, Adrianna continued to open the bottle of wine. Then, she turned toward him, giving him a seductive smirk, before pouring two glasses. "Am I making this hard…for you, Daniel?"

Daniel knew that he was getting no-where with talk. As she crossed the room with two glasses in her hands, he pulled his checkbook and pen from his pocket.

"How much?" He wove it in the air.

"Daniel, I'm insulted that you think I would want your money." She stopped and placed the glasses on the table. "You know, since I got divorced. I have plenty of money."

As she moved towards him, he tried to keep his eyes on her eyes…and nothing else. He felt like he was in hell.

"I'm sorry but you seem to have this idea in your head that I'm going to sleep with you…or that I can be what I used to be. I think the other day should have told you that I'm not going to."

"Blah…Blah…" Adrianna moved in quickly, taking the checkbook and pen from him and placing it on the table. She wrapped her arms around his neck again and drew her lips into his face, kissing just at the corner of his lips. "Daniel, you just have to keep trying. I know you still have it in you."

He pulled away once again.

She groaned. "God…look at me, Daniel. I'm hot…and I know that I turn you on." Her eyes flashed downward. "This is about Betty. It's always about her."

"Adrianna, I'm a father now. I told you that my son is sick and I need to get home…and not only that Isabella is expecting me to tuck her in. And the only reason I'm here now and putting up with this is that I want to find out what happened to my other son." He took a deep breath and reached for his checkbook. "What is your price?"

Daniel didn't care if the information she had was useless and lead no-where. He would just write the damn check to get her to leave him alone.

She laughed. "The information that I have is priceless. I don't think even you can put a price on it."

"Of course, you put a price on it. You want me…that must is clear." He shook his head. "I'm sorry but that's not a price I'm willing to pay, Adrianna."

He added, as he lifted his eyes to hers. "I just want to find out what happened to my son. I want to find out if he's alive." Daniel felt his eyes tear up. "And if he is, I just want to bring him home."

Adrianna reached for the chair. Her face was emotionless. "Just sit….I'll go get the information and we will see what type of compromise that we can come too."

Daniel glanced down at the chair and then back at her. "Fine…but please cover up."

"Okay but just sit down." She gestured toward the chair.

He watched her carefully, as he took a seat. "Really."

"Yes." She rolled her eyes. "Just relax. Have a drink."

She added, as she placed the glass of wine in front of him. "I'll get dressed and show you what I found out. I'll be back in a minute."

Daniel let out a sigh as he watched Adrianna left the room. Now he had some hope that he could actually get through this. He reached for the glass of wine and downed it.

Hopefully, it would help take off the edge and get him through this.

As he waited, his cell phone rang. It was Betty.

"Hey." He held the phone to his ear, looking to see if Adrianna was still in the other room.

"Are you on your way home?" Betty asked.

"I'm still waiting for her to give me the information." Daniel said quietly. "I shouldn't be much longer."

"Oh…"

"Betty, is everything okay?" He could sense something wasn't right. He knew that tone.

"Brandon is still sick."

"Do you need me to pick anything up? Did you call the doctor?"

"No…and no. When I got home, the nanny said that he had a fever of 105, so I just brought him to the hospital. I might be overreacting but I…"

"You did the right thing." He assured her.

"I need you to come here. I'm not authorized to do anything. I'm not his mother or his guardian," said Betty helplessly. "I called your mother but she's not picking up."

Something that Daniel really wanted to remedy immediately.

"I'm on my way. I'll be there as quick as I can." Daniel got up from the chair and started toward the door. He grabbed his check book "I'm leaving now."

"Daniel, just hurry, please." He could hear the desperation in Betty's voice. As Daniel neared the door, he felt a fog come over him.

"Sweetie, I'll be right there. I love you both." Daniel hung up and stuck the phone in his pocket as he tried to gather himself. He had the sudden urge to go take a nap.

"And where do you think you are going?" Adrianna stood there, still dressed provocatively.

"Brandon is at the hospital. He's fever shot up." Daniel sat in the nearest chair, as he was overcome with overwhelming feeling of weakness. "Betty needs me to come to the hospital."

"Poor Baby!" Adrianna moved toward him, rubbing her hands over his shoulders. "He'll be fine. I'm sure…his mother will take care of it."

"Not funny." Daniel felt like he was suddenly losing a battle as everything started to fade away. He knew he had to fight it. All he needed to was get down stairs to the town car and get to the hospital. Right now, it seemed impossible. "His real mother…."

Daniel couldn't even manage to the strength to talk anymore. Adrianna wasn't funny. She knew for a fact that Brandon's real mother had died in a car accident, along with her husband and their other daughter.

The last thing that Daniel remembered was Adrianna's hand on his face and her cryptic laugh.

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	23. Chapter 23

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for all the feedback and comments. I appreciate it so much_.

**Chapter 23**

After Betty got off the phone with Daniel, she and Brandon sat alone in the waiting room of the hospital emergency room. As the first hour ticked away, Brandon lay across the small couch with his head in her lap, while she tried to fill out paperwork about his medical history, hoping the Daniel would be there soon to help, because she had no idea how to answer any of these questions.

"Brandon, when is your birthday?" She asked, as she peeked down at him. She could tell that he about to doze off any second.

"April…" He mumbled

She scribbled it down the month, while she waited for the rest. "What day?" There was no reply. She looked down to see him fast asleep.

Betty ran her hand over his head, as she watched him sleep. She knew she would probably have to wake him up soon. For now, she might as well let him sleep. She couldn't believe that he was born in April and he was the same age as Isabella.

This was about all she did know about the little guy. She just never realized how close they were in age until now.

As the first hour turned into the second hour, they were finally brought back to a small room in the back. Thankfully, Betty had been able to reach Claire who was able to fill her help fill in the medical history and other pertinent information to begin treatment.

"Momma." Brandon opened his sleepy eyes. The nurse walked around the bed, as she finished taking making notes after taking his temperature.

"Yes." Even though, she knew that she really wasn't his mother. It seemed that everyone thought he was her son since he kept calling her momma since they got to the hospital. She didn't know if it was his fever or what…because it was the first time that he had ever called her that.

Every time, he called her that. She wished that it were true. She knew that she could never replace his real mother.

"Where's Dad?"

"He'll here soon, baby." She didn't know what else to tell him. She also wondered where Daniel was. "He's just caught in traffic."

"I forgot to feed Harry."

"Harry?" Betty smiled.

"My spider."

"He'll be fine." Betty assured him, as she tugged the blanket up. "You can feed him when we go home. Okay?"

Of course, Betty was starting to wonder if they were going to allow them to go home or not. After they found some bruising on his leg, they wanted to run some tests. It was possible that they might have to stay overnight.

"Okay." He nodded his head and closed his eyes.

For the next 45 minutes, she watched nurses and doctors come in and out. Betty was thankful once Claire arrived with reinforcements.

Amanda and Tyler had just arrived from North Dakota that evening. Claire had been at the airport picking them up when she missed Betty's earlier calls.

While Claire sat in with Brandon, Betty went off in search of some coffee and to try Daniel again. She had a feeling that it was going to be a long night and Daniel needed to be here.

Before she started down the hall again, she tried to call Daniel. It once again went to voice mail. She looked down at the end of the hallway and saw Amanda waiting there.

"Do you know where I can get some coffee?" Betty asked as she approached her.

"The stuff here is horrible. Tyler went to get some good stuff from the Starbucks across the street," said Amanda, as she guided her over to a group of chairs.

Betty sat down. "Thanks."

They sat there in silence for a moment. Betty knew that Amanda was probably very curious about everything that was going on with her and Daniel. There was no doubt that Claire had filled them in.

"So…is Brandon going to be okay?" Amanda asked.

"They are going to keep him overnight. Apparently, this isn't the first time that he has had a fever like this," said Betty. "And they want to run some tests."

There was another awkward silence as Betty tried to figure out what to say. There was so much to say really. She hadn't seen her friend in seven years and now Betty was back in New York with a bombshell of a secret about having Daniel's child….or children.

"I can't believe that you and Daniel actually did something right." Amanda smiled.

"Huh?"

"You have your little Isabella. I bet she's perfect."

"She is. She has eyes just like Daniel." Betty grinned.

"I can't wait to meet her," said Amanda. "In fact, as soon as Claire told us about her, we just had to come for a surprise visit."

"I'm glad you are here." Betty reached for Amanda's hand and squeezed it. Right now, she was so worried about Brandon and also worried about Daniel. With every second that passed by, she grew more and more worried that something had happened to him.

The one thing she was sure of was that he would be here unless there was something wrong. Daniel's top priority was his children. He would die for them. In fact, finding out the truth about their son was the only reason that he threw himself into Adrianna's snake pit.

Betty just hoped that he wasn't injured or worse. In her mind, she had conquered up all kind of scenarios. None of them were pleasant either. The least scary scenario involved him getting stuck in the elevator and he couldn't get out. The most terrifying one….well, she could barely even bring herself to think about it, especially when she knew what Adrianna wanted from Daniel.

Claire stepped out into the hallway of the busy emergency room. "Did you try Daniel again?"

"Still no answer." Betty saw Tyler coming down the hallway with coffee.

"Where is he?" Claire asked. "It's not like him."

"Here you go." Tyler handed Betty one of the coffees.

"Thank you, Tyler." Betty took the warm cup in her hands. She looked away, not sure she should divulge the latest revelations that had been revealed to her and Daniel

"Betty, where is Daniel?" Claire asked again.

"He…uh…he was supposed to be on the way here. He told me he was leaving as soon as he got off the phone." Betty said hesitantly. "That was three hours ago."

"Daniel needs to be here." Claire reiterated. "Brandon keeps asking for him."

"I know." Betty said. "I…I...think something has happened to him. I know that bitch…"

Amanda and Claire's eyes grew wide at Betty choice of vocabulary. "What bitch, Betty?" Claire asked curiously.

"Adrianna Carson." Betty said with as much hatred in her voice as she could muster. In fact, if Betty ever saw her, she was likely to rip her hair out one piece at a time.

"The Adrianna that he grew up with?" Claire asked.

"Yes." Betty nodded.

"She's trouble. She was the first girl who ever broke his heart."

"Well, she's changed her mind. She wants Daniel now." Betty said tearfully. "Adrianna had her sights set on getting her claws into Daniel…in exchange for…" She took a deep breath before she continued. "In exchange for information about our son."

"Son?" Amanda said loudly.

"We had twins." Betty said solemnly. "I was told that the boy died at birth. I never got to see him or hold him."

"How can it be possible though?" Claire asked. "How can he be alive? Who would hide something like that?"

"I don't know." Betty wiped away the tear that ran down her cheek. Ever since Daniel had told her about the possibility that their son being alive, she had to admit that it seemed unbelievable.

"Anyway, Daniel went over there to try to get more information. Now, I'm just starting to think that she just used it as an excuse to get him over there so she could try…" Betty wanted to cry, as images popped in her mind. "To sleep with him."

"Daniel would never do that to you." Claire placed his hands on her arm. "He loves you."

"Yes, he does. I mean, he wrote all those books because of you…" Amanda said in agreement.

"You knew about that….but he told me that he never told anyone." Betty looked around at the group surrounding her.

"Of course, we knew," said Claire.

"Betty, do you know where this Adrianna woman lives? I could go over there," said Tyler, as he quickly changed the subject.

"I know her address is on Daniel's computer at home. Hilda is there, watching Isabella. I could have her get it for you."

"I'll take care of it," said Tyler. "You just take care of Brandon."

"Thank you." Betty said gratefully. "I will."

"And I'll go with Tyler. Just wait until I get my hands on this Adrianna woman," said Amanda.

A few minutes later, Amanda and Tyler were gone. Betty hoped that they would be able to find out where Daniel was and bring him here.

"I guess I better get back in there, in case Brandon wakes up." Betty gets up and makes her way back towards Brandon's room.

"Good idea, dear."

As they reached the door of Brandon's room, they heard Amanda call out from down the hall.

"Betty…"

They looked down the hallway to see Amanda running towards them as fast as she could in her heels. Finally, she reached them, grabbing onto Betty's arm.

"It's Daniel." She tried to catch her breath.

"Where?" Betty glanced over at Claire.

"The ambulance just brought him in." Amanda said gravely.

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	24. Chapter 24

**The Ties That Bind**

Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I appreciate them very much.

**Chapter 24**

He felt a hand move across his chest lightly, causing Daniel to wake sudddenly. He grabbed the person's wrist aggressively.

"Get away from…" Daniel's eyes flew open. He had expected to find Adrianna there but instead; he found Betty's beautiful face before him. "Oh…Betty."

He felt his whole body relax in her presence. He let go of her wrist.

"Thank God." Betty leaned over him. "You're awake. I was so worried." As Daniel looked at her, he could tell that she hadn't slept in some time.

"Where am I?" Daniel looked around surveying his surroundings, before bringing his eyes back to Betty's. The last place he remembered was being in Adrianna's apartment trying to get the information on their son with little success. Now, it was obvious that he was in the hospital but he had no memory of how he got here.

"You're in the hospital." She quickly answered, as he pulled her hand back to his heart. "They brought you in yesterday." He could tell that she was fighting the tears. "When they found you…when they found you, you weren't breathing. You were in the elevator of Adrianna's building. The doorman gave you CPR and brought you back."

She continued. "Once you got here, they found Rohypnol in your system…a pretty large dose of it. My best guess is that Adrianna gave it to you to try to seduce you but she overdosed you instead. They found security footage of her and some man putting you in the elevator and then taking off down the stair well. No one has been able to find either of them."

Daniel tried to remember anything but he had no memory of any events after his collapse. The only thing he did remember before that was being in a hurry to get to the hospital to see Brandon and Adrianna doing her best to get him to stay and making sick statements about Brandon's mother taking care of him.

Brandon's real mother was dead. How could she say something like that?

And then, what happened after his collapse? Anything could have happened," said Daniel.

"There was no signs of assault." Betty said uncomfortably. Not that she could blame her, Daniel knew the last thing that either of them wanted to think was that Adrianna had taken advantage of him in his drug-induced state.

"It must have been the wine. She put it in there. I don't remember anything after I collapsed. God, how could I be so stupid? I should have known that she try something like that." Daniel's mind cluttered with the possibilities

"Daniel, you were just trying to find our son." Betty comforted him. "And I just hate the outcome of that attempt, just as much as you. The important thing is that you're going to be okay."

"But I almost had to die to find out nothing." Daniel shook his head, feeling like an utter failure. "Now, we will never find out the truth. Our son could be out there somewhere. He needs to be here with his twin sister and his brother."

Betty scooted onto the bed, curling up beside him. "I'm not giving up, Daniel. Neither should you. Adrianna might be gone, along with any proof that she might have had. Still, she did give us one very important thing."

"And that is?" He turned his head towards her.

"She gave us hope that our son is out there and that we will find him. Until then, we have two children that need us." She placed her hand over his.

"I just want to do something," said Daniel. "I want to do whatever it takes to find him."

"And we are. Your mother is having a private investigator look into what exactly could have happened between the time that I gave birth to the time that I woke up in the hospital. "

"It's been over six years. Do you think that anyone would remember?"

"We have to try. If he's out there, we are going to find him." She said reassuringly. "I'm just glad that you are going to be okay because without you. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you."

Daniel pulled his arms around her. "You would have been fine."

"I don't know about that." She curled up closer to him and he felt the urge to get even closer. "I need you, Daniel. We need you….especially now."

"Speaking of kids, how are Brandon and Isabella? Is Brandon feeling better?"

"Isabella has been staying with Hilda. Amanda is picking up from school this afternoon and they are going shopping," said Betty.

"Amanda and Tyler are here?"

"Yes. They got here the night that you were admitted. I'm really thankful too. They have been a huge help with Isabella since I've been here taking care of you and Brandon at the hospital."

"Brandon is here." Daniel was suddenly overcome with a bad feeling. "Why? Isn't he better?"

"Uh…yeah. He's a little better today. The fever is gone now but they want to keep him for another day before they sent him home. We have some appointments…and uh…" She stopped unable to go any further.

"Betty, is Brandon okay?" The tears in her eyes told him that he wasn't. There was something wrong with his son…their son.

"Not really…but I'm sure he will be." He could tell that she was trying to put up an optimistic attitude, which only made him feel that things were not okay.

"Betty."

"It's leukemia."

Daniel felt like he couldn't breathe. "No…there has to be a mistake."

"There's no mistake, Daniel." Betty shook her head. "Your mom had them run the tests again. She's flying in the best doctor in the country. He'll be here this afternoon."

"Does he realize what's going on?" Daniel felt tears well up in his eyes.

"No…not totally. I hoped that we could do that together." Betty took his hand. "I know that he'll be happy to see you."

"What did you tell him…about me?"

"I told him that Daddy was sick too and that Momma was taking care of him too." Betty said. "Bobby and Tyler have helped me keep him occupied since it's been impossible to be in two places at once. My dad will be flying home tonight.

"Momma?" Daniel managed a smile. His mind focused on that one word.

"Yes. He started calling me that the other night. At first, I thought it was the fever but he's still calling me that." Betty shrugged her shoulder, as he pulled her against him. "Is that okay?"

"Of course, it is. I think that's great."

"It also got me thinking about things."

"What kind of things?" Daniel wondered as he wondered if it was the same thing that was on his mind.

_Marriage._

"I almost lost you and it made me realize that we've wasted too much time. I have no doubt now that you love me and I love you more than I've ever loved anyone. And we are going to have our hands full trying to find our son…and with Brandon's treatments. I just want to marry you."

She continued. "The other night, I was so lost. I realized that I wasn't really Brandon's mother and that was what I wanted more than anything. I want to adopt him. I want to be his mother, Daniel. I want to be your wife. I want us to be a family. A real family…"

Betty took a breath. "And I know that this is fast…and we just found each other again. And…."

"Yes." Daniel answered simply. "I want that too and I know it's fast but really we are just catching up to where we should already be."

Betty smiled. "I agree."

"Now that we have that settled. I think we need to go see our son." Daniel began to sit up.

Betty gently brought him back down the bed. "Not so fast, mister. I know that you want to but you need to wait for the doctor to say that it's okay," said Betty.

"Betty, I feel great." Daniel knew that was a small lie. He didn't feel great. He still felt a little light-headed.

"I want to see him." He let out a breath. "I want to see Isabella. Do you think that Amanda could bring her here afterschool?

"Sure…I know that she can't wait to see you."

"Good." Daniel brought his arm around her. "That way we can tell them that we are getting married this Saturday." He pulled her closer.

"The book launch party is this weekend…" She pointed out.

"I want to cancel it. Right now, we have more important things to focus on."

"I'm sure that our family wouldn't mind watching the children. After all, they know how hard you worked on those books. You deserve to tell the world that you were the one that wrote them," said Betty. "It's only a few hours."

"We'll see."

"Okay." Betty smiled. "You are right. We'll see how Brandon is."

"It would be great though to show off my beautiful wife to the world and tell them how much I love you," said Daniel.

Betty blushed. "If nothing else, we will be married and really, that's the only thing that matters to me. Either way, there are other ways to let everyone know."

"Yeah."

"I better go get a nurse or something and let them know you are awake." Betty started to move. He pulled her back.

"I do need one thing before you go."

She turned towards him. "Water? Food?"

"You." He pulled his lips to hers for a quick kiss. As he pulled away, he grinned. "Now future Mrs. Meade, go get someone so I can get out of this bed and go see our son."

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	25. Chapter 25

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. It means so much to me that you are still reading. I have to honestly say that there is so much going on with this story that I really don't see it ending for at least 10 more chapters. So...I hope you don't mind. Keep the reviews coming because well, it's like fuel for my writing._

**Chapter 25**

The day was filled to the brim with so many emotional highs and lows that it was difficult to know what to feel about all the events that were occurring in their life. On one hand, she and Daniel were getting married in only a matter of days in a small, simple ceremony at home with just their family and a few friends.

She knew that this should be a happy time in their life and she tried to find every ounce of happiness she could. Betty knew she would never forget the look on Brandon and Isabella's face when they told them about the wedding. Their excitement told both she and Daniel that this was the right thing for their whole family. It was going to make them all stronger and they were going to need that strength now more than ever.

They were about to embark on a very long and difficult journey in dealing with Brandon's illness and they were going to need all the strength they could muster. In addition to their good news, they also had the horrible task of talking to Isabella and Brandon about Brandon's illness and explaining how he would be going to the doctor a lot to get better.

Both of them were full of questions that neither of them had the answers to. Betty felt her heart-break when Brandon asked if he got sick because he had been bad. Daniel quickly assured him that it was nothing that he did.

All through the afternoon, Betty watched Daniel carefully, as they met with several doctors and listened to the options they had. She knew that Daniel was putting on his bravest face and trying to be strong for everyone. Betty knew better though. She could see that he was ready to break down. It was one reason that Betty knew she needed to bring him home, as opposed to staying at the hospital that night.

"Daniel…" Betty placed her bag down.

"Yeah." He stopped as he crossed the bedroom, headed for the closet.

Betty moved closer to him. "You didn't say anything on the way home."

"I'm tired. I guess." Daniel began unbuttoning his shirt. "I just want to get a nap and then go back to the hospital and stay with Brandon."

"Tyler is staying with him."

"He didn't have to do that." Daniel said. "I'm sure he didn't come all the way here to babysit his nephew."

"We should take advantage of it now. Tyler and Amanda are only staying until Monday. Let them help while they are here. Plus, Brandon loves his Uncle Tyler…and Amanda just loves Isabella. I think she might try to take her back home with them."

"I really don't think we should have let Amanda take her to my mom's on a school night," said Daniel.

"Amanda will take her to school and pick her up. Hilda needs a break," said Betty. "And we have a lot on our plate right now..

"Still…." Daniel unbuttoned another button. "I want to be at the hospital with my son."

Betty moves towards him. "He'll be fine. Besides, you heard what the doctor said. You need to get some rest. Sleeping in the chair beside Brandon's bed is not going to help you get any rest. Believe me, I tried it."

"I know…" Daniel lowered his head.

"Everything is not going be solved tonight. You were out of it for a day because of Adrianna. You were drugged. You need to take care of yourself. Brandon needs you to be healthy," said Betty.

"I'm just…." He looked away.

"Scared?" Betty reached for his hand. He quickly entwined their fingers, focusing on them.

Daniel's eyes turned up and she could see the tears there. "Terrified. I just don't want this to be like…"

"Molly. You are thinking about Molly." She said gently. It wasn't hard to imagine that Daniel's mind would go there. After all, this was the same thing that had killed Molly.

"I just want as much time as I can get." Daniel said tearfully.

"It's not going to be like that." Betty tried to be optimistic but the truth was even she couldn't predict the future. The one thing she wouldn't allow herself to think was that this thing was going to take their son away.

He pulled away from her and then rested on the edge of the bed. She followed him. "You don't know that."

"Molly beat it once. It was her choice not to continue to fight it." Betty stood before him.

Daniel nodded, as he reached out for her, pulling her closer. "I know."

"And we are going to fight this. I know you are scared. I am too."

"I just hate that he has to go through all that," said Daniel solemnly. "The side effects…it's too much. He's only six years old."

"We are not giving up."

"No. Of course, not. I don't know…I just wish I could write a check and just make it all go away. You heard the doctors, this stuff has moved very quickly."

"That just means that we are going to have to fight harder."

"What about the bone marrow transplant? They said that a parent or sibling could be a match but that's a problem because Brandon is adopted."

"Is there any other family?" Betty asked.

"Michelle had a sister in Boston. She was the one that said that Colin and Michelle wanted Brandon to live with me, if anything happened to them."

"That's strange. Just out of the blue."

"Well, Colin and Connor and I used to be really close at Harvard. Other than, I don't really even know why they wanted to entrust their son to me."

"Why didn't her sister take him in?" Betty wondered.

"I asked her why she didn't want him and she said he was too much for her to handle," said Daniel. "She still comes to visit him when she comes to town, which isn't often."

"We need to call her."

"I'll call her in the morning before we go back to the hospital." She went willingly when he pulled her onto his lap. "I do know she travels a lot."

Betty nodded. "Well, we need to look at all the options."

"Yeah. I don't care what it costs. We are going to get him through this."

"Good." She ran her hands through his hair. "There's the man who I fell in love with. The one that would do anything for the people he loves."

He glanced up at her and smiled. "I'm so glad that I'm marrying you and that you are in my life again."

"Me too." She lowered her lips onto his. His hand pulled her down to him, as he deepened the kiss and pulled her onto the bed.

Once she came up for air, she gazed in his eyes. "This isn't resting." She giggled.

"I need you, Betty."

"Daniel, you just got out of the hospital. I don't think it's a good idea." He gave her another quick kiss, as his hand pulled the zipper of her dress slowly down on back.

"I almost died Betty." He buried his head in neck, resting for a moment, as his hands wandered over her body.

Betty simply nodded, as he lifted his face to hers. Their lips only inches apart once again. "And after everything that has happened, I really need to celebrate being alive right now and I can't think of a better way than making love to you."

That was all that Betty needed to hear to convince herself that this is what she wanted to. She charged forward, kissing him again. At first, the kiss was sweet and warm. It only took a few seconds before Daniel's kiss lead to a fiery inferno.

The next thing that Betty knew they were naked and tangled up in the sheets. Suddenly, it was like all their past mistakes had faded away and left the only thing that really matter, which was the love they had for one another.

Once the passion subsided, Betty laid in Daniel's arms. Her head rested on his shoulder, listening to the sound of his heartbeat.

"Daniel, there is something I've really been thinking about that I want to do. I just want to run it by you."

He rolled towards her, still keeping his arms around her. "Well, give me a bit and I'll be happy to try anything you want."

"Daniel, it's not about sex." Her face flooded with warmth. It was amazing how much life Daniel had in him for something had come so close to losing his. "I just need you to promise me that you will hear me out."

"Okay."

"I want to quit the magazine." She proclaimed.

"What? But it's your dream, Betty."

"Yes…and it still is." She could see that he already didn't like the idea. Strike that. She could tell he hated it.

"Then why would you even think about quitting? You love to work. Just because you are marrying me doesn't mean you have to give up anything. I mean, I know I made you quit your job at the pizza place but that was because you needed to be home with Isabella, not because I didn't want you to work. I don't expect you to stay home and raise our children…"

"Please let me finish." She placed her hand on his arm.

"Daniel, my career suffered ever since I had to take the leave of absence from Dunne to recover from the accident. They gave my job to someone else because I was out for so long. Once I did make it back to the top, the magazine shut down only a few months later. The only job that I have been able to find when I got back to New York was writing book reviews."

As Daniel remained silent, Betty ran her hand down his arm and continued. "Daniel, writing book reviews and the occasional article on some author that is way more successful than I ever will be is not my dream."

"I just don't want you to give up something that you love," said Daniel.

"You and the kids mean more to me than a low paying dead-end job. There will be other jobs. I only have one family."

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	26. Chapter 26

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews and feedback. I appreciate hearing from each and every one of you._

**Chapter 26**

Dressed in a black suit, Daniel stood in front of the full-length mirror, straightening the tie that Isabella had picked out on her shopping trip with Amanda earlier this week.

_Purple with yellow polka dots. _

Not the most fashionable choice by far, but left little doubt in Daniel's mind that his beautiful little girl had no doubt inherited her mother's eye for fashion.

Still, the way her blue eyes lit up when she presented it to him after dinner last night and asked him to wear it today. There was no way that he could tell her no, even if it did, in the words of Justin, throw off the entire wedding palette.

Hell. Daniel didn't care what he was wearing today, as long as he was getting married to Betty and his children were happy. Isabella could have asked him to wear clown shoes and he would have done it, just to see the amused look on her face and see her eyes dance as she giggled uncontrollably.

Yes. Being a father was more important than what he was wearing. It was one of the most important roles that he would have in his life. Even though, Isabella had only been in his life for a matter of weeks. It was like she had always been part of him. It was the same with Brandon too. The minute he met him, it was like it was meant to be. Daniel was meant to be their father, whether through biology or adoption. They were all meant to be a family.

With the exception of Betty officially adopting Brandon and the changes to Isabella's birth certificate (both of which was already in the works), they were all going to be a family today.

As if they knew he was thinking about, Isabella and Brandon rushed into the room, throwing the door open. His mother and Tyler were close behind them.

"Daddy!" Isabella dressed in a white dress with a pink sash.

"Hey, sweetie. I missed you." He kissed his daughter on the cheek. Daniel hated being away from Betty last night when she and Isabella had gone to Queens after their family dinner at his mother's house. She told him that it was bad luck for him to see her before the wedding and that they didn't need any more bad luck. In the end, it was okay because it allowed him to spend a little time with Brandon before he started his treatment on Monday.

"I missed you too. You should see mommy. She looks so beautiful…like a princess." She said happily. Her eyes grew wide.

"Mommy is a princess." Daniel loved his daughter's enthusiasm. Even though it was a small wedding, Amanda and Justin had taken special care to make sure that Isabella was involved in the entire wedding planning process.

"And you are her Prince Charming." She grinned.

Daniel chuckled. "Yes. I guess I am."

He looked over at Brandon, who was quiet. It was clear that he already was tired from the excitement of the day. "Brandon, are you okay?"

"Tired."

"You should go rest. We still have an hour to the wedding." Daniel glanced over at his mother and then back at Brandon. He looked pale, making Daniel wonder whether he and Betty should have just gotten married at the courthouse, instead of trying to have a wedding in the midst of everything else that was going on.

"I don't want to miss anything," said Brandon. Isabella reached over and took her brother's hand. It still amazed Daniel how these two were the same two little troublemakers that got suspended from school. They were now so close. It was scary.

"Are you kidding? You aren't going to miss out on anything. You are my best man, remember? You get the hold the ring. I can't get married without you." Daniel said reassuringly. "I'll come get you when it's time."

"Okay."

"Come on, Buddy." Tyler stood in the doorway. "Why don't you introduce me to Harry?"

Brandon nodded and started toward the door.

"Isabella, why don't you go downstairs and make sure that Justin has everything taken care of? I think he might need you to supervise him."

"I agree, Grandma. I still have to go over my checklist."

"Check list?" Daniel chuckled. "You really are your mother's daughter."

"Well, of course, I am." She smiled before skipping off down the hallway. He watched her until she was out of sight.

"She is so much like Betty." He turned towards his mother.

"Oh…I think she is a lot like you too." Claire made her way towards him. "Your tie is crooked." She reached forward to straighten it.

"I'm 42 years old. I can do it myself." Daniel moves to stop her.

"Stop it. Let me help," said Claire. "You might be 42 years old but you will always be my little boy." He moves his hand and allows her to fix his tie.

"This is really happening, isn't it?" Daniel let out a breath. "A wife and two children….maybe, three."

"There you go. Much better" Claire said as she pulled her hands away from his tie. "And yes, this really is happening. We are all so glad that you and Betty are taking this step together."

"I really never thought this day would come," said Daniel. "I feel like I've been in some kind of limbo for the past seven years since I came back from London, like I couldn't go back and I couldn't move forward either. Now, I know why…I couldn't go forward without the one person that meant everything to me."

"Well, maybe the timing was just wrong. Everything happens for a reason. If you and Betty had gotten together all those years ago, you might not have adopted Brandon."

"I didn't really think about it like that but you are right. I really can't see my life without him either," said Daniel.

"Daniel, I wanted to let you know that I got some information from the private investigator in London."

"Really…that was quick. Did they find out anything?"

"Yes."

"Well, what did they find out?" Daniel asked cautiously.

"According to the hospital, Betty only gave birth to one child, which was a girl."

"Betty wouldn't lie about this."

"I didn't say that she did, Daniel. It's just the records don't say anything about their being two babies. They have hit a dead-end."

"There has to be a mistake. Betty told me that she knew very early on that she was carrying twins."

"All the records are indicating the opposite."

"This just doesn't make sense at all, Mom. If Betty said there were two babies, there were two of them."

"We need some kind of proof."

"Wait a minute." An idea struck Daniel.

He rushed over to the closet and came out with the box that he had brought from Queens. In the box, Betty had told him there were lots of keepsakes and photos. He placed the box on the bed.

"This isn't a time to unpack, Daniel."

"I'm not….I just wonder…" Daniel removed several outfits, stuffed animals, a rattle, placing them on the bed and opened it.

"Wonder what?" Claire asked.

In the bottom of the box, Daniel found a scrapbook. As he flipped through the pages, he found pictures of Betty while she was pregnant, at every stage from 1 month to nine months. As he looked over the page, he had seen Betty's handwritten notes. His names appeared numerous times. He would have to read it later...

He continued to flip through the book and came across a page of ultrasound photos.

"Bingo!" He flipped the book around to show his mother. "There are two babies here. I don't care what they say at that hospital. Betty had twins."

Claire reached for the book as she scanned the images of her grandchildren. "There sure are."

"Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to cover this up. They must have paid off the doctor that delivered them. Did the investigator try to reach him?"

"He's in Africa doing some mission work. I think the investigator said Botswana. They haven't been able to reach him," said Claire.

"We need to find him. He could be the only one that can tell us what happened to Isabella's twin, "said Daniel. "Or tell us why someone would kidnap an innocent newborn and then tell the mother that the baby died."

He added. "What kind of person would torture Betty like that?"

"A sick one." Claire lowered her eyes. "I'll get a copy of this ultrasound to the investigator and see where it leads."

Daniel stares down at two teddy bears on the bed.

_One pink one. One blue one. _

They were obviously purchased before Betty gave birth and then she found herself unable to part with the one that had been meant for their little boy.

"I know." Daniel said solemnly. "I appreciate that."

His mother moved closer. "We are going to find him."

"I know we are." Daniel said optimistic. "I can't allow myself to think anything else."

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	27. Chapter 27

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Notes: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I appreciate each and every one of them. I love hearing your detailed thoughts on what is going on in each chapter. I like seeing it through your eyes. So please keep it up. _

**Chapter 27**

* * *

Betty stood back to take a moment to memorize every single detail of this moment in her mind, so that she could remember it forever. It was her wedding day. One of the most important days of her life, and while it wasn't exactly the way she had imagined her wedding being, as a little girl. It was perfect because she finally was united with the man who was not only her partner in life but her very best friend.

Seeing all their family and friends gathered outside in the garden, feasting on the huge array of foods that her father had spent hours preparing for the very small intimate reception. Their friends that had traveled from as far away as France and Scotland to be here for this occasion…and the dress that Christine had worked on up until an hour before the wedding, Betty was pretty sure that the poor woman hadn't slept a wink in the past three days to makes sure that she felt like a princess on her special day.

The long white strapless gown was exactly what Betty would have chosen, if she had the time to go shopping for a gown. She would have been happy just wearing her simple white dress from her wardrobe….or even a burlap bag…to marry Daniel.

On the dance floor Betty saw Isabella dancing with Marc. Betty got a chuckle when earlier in the afternoon had Isabella announced to her and Daniel that she was going to marry Marc when she got older.

Over near Claire, Brandon sat with Becks' son, Anthony, as they watched Harry inside his portable carrying case. Betty knew that she would never forget the feeling of the hairy spider crawling up her back during the ceremony and Daniel's frantic attempts to capture it.

All great memories that Betty knew she was treasure forever. And that wasn't even the moment that they were pronounced husband and wife and he kissed her. It was a kiss that felt like it was going to last forever until the moment was broken by Marc's loud comment that he didn't come all the way from Paris to watch Daniel remove Betty's tonsils.

"There you are." Daniel slipped up behind her. His hands slid around her waist, pulling her against him. "My beautiful wife."

"My sweet husband." Betty turned her head and Daniel kissed her on the cheek. She leaned into him."

"So, is it everything you wanted?" Daniel asked her.

"It was perfect."

"Even the spider." Daniel chuckled. "I thought you were going to faint there for a minute."

"We have to get Harry a better home….with a lid that stays closed. I think I'm gonna have nightmares about the thing crawling into bed with us," Betty shivered.

"I'll take care of it tomorrow." Daniel chuckled.

"Good." Betty smiled.

"Come inside with me." He whispered in her ear.

She nodded and followed him back inside the house. Their hands fit together perfectly, as he lead her back into the living room where they were married an hour earlier.

"I just wanted a moment alone with you." Daniel gazed down at her bustline. "I just wanted to tell you that you look beautiful. Christine did an amazing job on your dress."

She felt herself blush. Mostly because she could tell that Daniel wanted badly to remove that dress. "She did."

Then, his lips were on hers. The taste of champagne still on his lips and the smell of the dozens of flowers scattered throughout the room filled the air, for the first real-time today; it was just her and Daniel.

Finally, they parted slightly, yet he still clung to her. "Tyler and Amanda said they would stay here tonight with the kids while we go to the book launch party and then…our quickie honeymoon. I reserved a suite for us in the same hotel as the party, so that we can easily slip up to our room and not have to worry about the paparazzi after we make our little announcement about Maggie Daniels."

He added "They are sending over a photographer from your magazine. After all, we did promise your boss that he could have the exclusive, if he didn't run Adrianna's lies."

"She had spread enough of them already," said Betty. "It's bad enough people are going to think that you had a seven-year relationship with her when it comes out that you are Maggie Daniels.

"That doesn't matter. They can think what they want," said Daniel. "By the end of tonight, the last thing they are going to be talking about is Adrianna."

"I guess…but do you think it's okay to leave Brandon? He doesn't look well." Betty said, as she glanced out the window to see Brandon still sitting with Anthony. "Maybe we should get him to come in and rest. I don't want him to get sick."

"Amanda will call us if we need to come home. We are only 10 minutes away," Daniel said reassuringly. "The other night you were telling me that I needed to stop being overprotective of him, now it's my turn. Let him be a kid."

Betty glanced back at him and sighed. "Okay. You are right. I'm sorry. I am just waiting for something else to happen."

"Everything is going to be okay and I'm sure that Adrianna is long gone by now. Tyler said that her landlord said that she hadn't come back to apartment."

"That doesn't mean she won't come back." Betty pointed out. "For all we know, she could have been behind the kidnapping of our son and now she is just waiting to steal Isabella away the first chance she gets."

"We don't know that. Anyway could have been behind it," said Daniel. "Right now, it's hard to know who we can trust….but I do know we can trust Tyler and Amanda with our children. We just need to let the investigators do their job and have faith that they will lead us to our son…wherever he is."

"I just hope that he's okay, Daniel."

"Me too." He nodded.

"What if we find him and he's happy with the family that raised him? What if they don't even know he was stolen away from us?" Betty had thought about that possibility a lot. As much as she wanted her child, could she rip him away from the only family that he ever known? Would there be a place for her and Daniel too? How would that work?"

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it. The most important thing is finding out what happened to him and make sure that he is safe, "said Daniel.

Betty nodded, as her eye caught the sight of Daniel's polka-dotted tie. "I can't believe you wore that tie." She straightened it just like she had a thousand times when she was his assistant over ten years ago.

"Of course, it would break Isabella's heart, if I didn't. Anyway, I like this tie."

"Don't let Wilhelmina hear you say that? She'll never even let you step foot on the MODE floor ever again." Betty giggled.

"She can't do that. I might not actually work there anymore but I still own 50% of the company and my name is on the building."

"Don't challenge her. I heard Marc say that she wants to retire in a few years and I'm sure that putting her name on the building is still on her list," Betty brought her eyes back to his. "Just under taking over the world."

"Well, I could use someone to keep an eye on things down there, if you are interested," said Daniel.

"Daniel, I'm not interested. I have a job now and that is being a wife and a mother. I don't need to add keeping Wilhelmina's hand out of the cookie jar to my list."

"Wilhelmina would never eat a cookie." Daniel chuckled.

"You know what I mean, Daniel. I meant what I said the other night; I really do want to be here to help Brandon through this. He is our son and I don't want him to ever think that my job is more important than him."

"Okay. I'll drop it. A job at Meade will always be there, if you want it. After all, you technically own part of it now too," said Daniel. "I just thought you might want to have an escape. I know how much your work means to you."

"No. Thank you. I appreciate that," said Betty. "But I actually have another project in mind."

"Really. Is it anything you would like to share?" Daniel asked curiously.

"Not yet." Betty giggled. "It's still in the planning stages. I'll let you know when I'm ready to play show and tell."

Daniel leaned his forehead against hers. "Whatever you do, I'm sure that it's going to be amazing."

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	28. Chapter 28

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I appreciate it._

**Chapter 28**

* * *

Daniel knew that he should have consulted Betty about the last-minute decision to not announce to the world that he was the infamous and elusive writer, Maggie Daniels.

Now because he didn't tell her, they were having their first fight, less than 24 hours after they tied the knot and before they had a chance to consummate the marriage.

He had a feeling that there was little chance on any consummating going on at this point. Betty was fuming and he couldn't really blame her. He should have given her some warning about what the new plan was.

Daniel opened the door to their honeymoon suite, ready to try to turn this evening around by sweeping his new bride off her feed and carry her over the threshold…and turning on the romance.

Before he could reach for her, she breezed past him, barely making eye contact with him. Her arms crossed over her chest. He followed her inside and closed the door.

"Betty, are you going to give me the silent treatment all night?" He said loudly, so that she could hear him from the other room. "This is our wedding night."

"You should have thought of that." She yelled from the other room.

Once he got into the bedroom, Betty just stood there in the middle of the room. Her back turned to him. Daniel made his way over to her and placed his hands on her arms.

"I'm so mad at you right now. How could you do that?"

"Betty…" He nuzzled her hair, moving as close to her as possible. Was it horrible that her anger was actually turning him on? "Calm down, honey."

"That was the longest hour of my life, Daniel." She pulled away and out of his reach.

"Aren't you going to give me a chance to explain?"

"What is there to explain? You totally caught me off guard down there. I didn't even know what to say," said Betty.

"You did great." He removed his jacket and placed it on a chair. "It's better this way, Betty."

"Is it?" Her eyes narrowed. "Seriously, how can it be better? It's a lie."

"It's better for us…and our family this way. The media know only what they need to know," said Daniel. "In six months, they won't even be talking about Maggie Daniels anymore?"

"Did you ever think that this will mess up what I have planned….you know what, never mind?" She lowered her head and held up her hands. "It doesn't matter now. It's over. It's done."

"Betty, what did you have planned? I asked you earlier and you wouldn't tell me"

"I told you. It doesn't matter now." Betty looked away from him. "It was a stupid idea anyway."

"So…you weren't planning on getting pregnant?" He asked curiously.

She turned to him. "Pregnant. Are you serious? The last thing we need now is a baby. We just got married. Our son is about to start cancer treatments. We are looking for our other son has been kidnapped by some psychopath. We don't have time for a baby…right now."

"Fine…No baby. I get it." Daniel tried not to show his disappointment. As much as Betty was right about the bad timing for a baby, Daniel still felt a twinge of longing to be able to hold their newborn in his arms. He obviously didn't get that chance with Brandon because he had been adopted when he was 5 years old. And he missed that with the twins too.

Daniel approached her slowly, pushing the baby idea to the back of his mind. Right now, he just wanted to make everything better with Betty.

She glanced up at him quickly and then away again. She took a deep breath. He could see that she was trying to calm down, after keeping her feelings hiding behind her bright smile throughout the party.

"Listen. They called me about 10 minutes before we left while you were getting ready," said Daniel. "And then Isabella needed a Band-aid….and Brandon couldn't find Harry again. It took both me and Tyler to finally catch him."

Daniel saw the corner of her mouth begin to pull up. The beginning of a smile.

He was making some progress. It was something. He would take it.

"You could have told me in the car." Betty rolled her eyes. "Oh….that's right you were distracted."

"Well…" He cocked his head to the side and gave a playful smirk. Was it his fault that her dress was cut that low? It was hard to notice how amazing her breasts looked.

"Uh…" She groaned, crossing her arms over her chest, blocking them from his view. "Just like a man."

"Hey, if I remember right you weren't complaining in the car. In fact, you were all over me," said Daniel. "We didn't do a lot of talking between home and the hotel."

He tried to approach her again. He knew that if he could get close he could get through to her. He just could move to fast or he might spook her. Then, he would be a step one again.

"I had already told them that I wanted to come out with the news," said Daniel. "They told me that they didn't think that it was a good idea, especially considering that we just got married. If I came out as the author of the Maggie Daniels books, my history as a playboy and Adrianna's allegations. People might believe that I actually had a relationship with her."

"That would just sell more books." Betty narrows. "People would love to get inside Daniel Meade's mind."

"Yes…but they would still think that book was about me and Adrianna."

"Why tell them I wrote it?." Betty's eyes met his.

"Because if we showed everyone that Maggie Daniels was a woman, it would totally discredit everything that Adrianna said about having a relationship with the person that wrote those books."

"She could still come forward and tell more lies." Betty lowered her head.

"Adrianna is gone," said Daniel reassuringly. "If she does come back, she will be arrested because they know that she put me in the elevator to die. They have the tapes to prove it."

"I still don't get it…"

He reached over and took her hand. He led her over to the chair beside the window. He sat down and pulled her into his lap. "I didn't want everyone to be focused on her and me. I wanted them to be focused on you and me…and our marriage and what we are trying to build together.

He continued. "Adrianna is taken out of the spotlight."

"She seems to love the spotlight. I feel like she will be back to hurt us again," said Betty.

"She can't break us up," said Daniel. Another concern was the media would go crazy and distract from Brandon's treatments. The last thing they needed was fighting the paparazzi to get to his doctor's appointments and treatments.

I know." Betty nodded. "But Daniel, you worked so hard on the books, you deserve the credit."

"I don't care about the books. I just care about you and our family. I want everyone to know that I love you and only you. I don't want anyone to think for a second that you were my second choice….because you were always my first choice."

He lifted his hand to her cheek and looked in her eyes. "You are my forever, Betty.

"So….can you forgive me?" Daniel gave her a look that he was sure would melt her heart and brought his arms around her waist, so she couldn't get away.

"Put away those baby blues, Daniel." She giggled.

"No. I won't," said Daniel playfully. "Not until I get you out of this dress." His eyes surveyed her cleavage again. "And into that bed, Mrs. Meade."

"That's Ms. Maggie Daniels to you." She wiggled off his lap and she move quickly over to the bed, towards the luggage that was waiting there. She giggled playfully.

He got up and moved towards her. "Well, Ms. Daniels, I think that I'm ready to kiss and make up."

"I just want to get changed into something more comfortable." Betty smiled and rolled her eyes.

"I can have you out of this dress in two second flat." He swept her off her feet.

"Daniel, you are going to ruin my dress. Stop it." Betty kicked her feet in the air, as he held her "Let me down."

He moved over to the side of the bed and tossed her on the bed. She laughed uncontrollably as she landed back against the pillows.

"Daniel…" She started to get up.

"Stay there." He reached for her shoes, removing the one by one. He tossed them to the floor and then swiftly removed his own, as well. Daniel crawled on the bed and he pulled his lips to hers, kissing her passionately.

As she rolled her head to the side, her head hit something. "What?" She moved to retrieve the medium-sized envelope that was stuck between the two pillows. "Oh…It has our name on it. Mr. and Mrs. Meade."

Daniel liked the sound of that, more proof they were married.

He watched her as she opened the envelope to see what was inside. "What is it?"

"Hold on." She smiled playfully. "Someone is inpatient."

"You have no idea." All he wanted to do was make love her.

She pulled the contents out of the envelope and her eyes widen in horror. "Oh My God!"

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	29. Chapter 29

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. You have no idea how much it means to me. _

* * *

**Chapter 29**

Betty opened the envelope and pulled out the contents. What she found there, she could barely believe. "Oh My God!"

"What is it?" Daniel asked, as he rolled onto his back.

"It's our babies….Daniel, it both of them in what appeared to be the hospital nursery in London." Betty could have sworn that her heart skipped a beat. She would know Isabella anywhere. Never in Betty's entire life had she ever seen the two of them together.

She turned the photo so that Daniel could see the picture of their children.

"Oh…wow!" He took the photo from her hand. She could see tears in his eyes, just as they were in hers.

"How did it get here?"

"I don't know. I'll check with the front desk to find out who left it here." He couldn't stop smiling, through the tears that were gathering in his eyes, just like they were in hers. "Wow! Betty, this is even better than the ultrasound photo."

Betty still couldn't believe when Daniel told her that the hospital had no record that their son ever existed. The proof was in Daniel's hand. There was no doubt that the second baby was their son. Even though, she never actually saw them. She just knew it was.

"First thing in the morning, I'm going to get a copy to the investigator," Daniel's eyes fixed on the photo.

"Do you think that Adrianna had something to do with this? Who else knows about our baby besides our family? It has to be her."

"I think you might be right. I think that she has something to do with kidnapping our son…or at least, knows who is behind it," said Daniel. "How could get her hands on this picture, if she didn't?"

"Why would she leave this for us? It just doesn't make any sense."

"Probably just a way of torturing us, the joke is on her though. We are going to use this to our advantage. I really think this will be big help."

"You think so?" Betty hoped so.

"Yeah. I should have Tyler contact Matt and see if he can track down the doctor. He has to know something."

"Matt? What's he got to do with this?"

"The doctor who delivered the twins is in Botswana doing mission work," said Daniel. "Maybe, he knows him or knows how to track him down."

"That doesn't mean that Matt knows him. There are over two million people that live there," said Betty. "It is probably going to be like finding a needle in a haystack."

"It's worth a shot, Betty; I mean…I know that Tyler has only talked to him a few times in the past few years."

"I can't believe that he's still in Botswana. I guess he found something that he was passionate about." Betty said.

"Yeah. Tyler said that he was married until a few years ago. I believe Tyler said that he has a young son too."

"That's great." Betty said sincerely. She really was happy for Matt that he found some kind of happiness.

"If I have to, I'll send Tyler down there. He said that he was willing to help out anyway he could even if it meant that he had to go to Botswana.

"Don't they have to get back home?" Betty asked. "We can't just ask them to drop their whole lives."

"Tyler told me this afternoon that he and Amanda talked about it and they want to stick around awhile longer, possibly even move back. They both feel like they really need to be here with everything that's going on with Brandon and the investigation."

"I guess that makes sense." Betty had to admire that it would be good to have them around. Isabella loved Amanda. Brandon loved Tyler.

Even in the short time Betty had known Brandon, she knew that there was nothing Brandon thrived on more than playing video games with his Uncle Tyler.

"Anyway, I think that this doctor is going to be the first step in finding our baby, Betty. We can't afford to let any more time pass by."

"He's not a baby anymore." Betty pointed out.

"I know." He nodded as his eyes focused back on the photo.

"You know, Daniel. I am sorry that I never came to you. If I had, we wouldn't be going through all this."

His eyes met her again. "Betty, we've been over this."

"I just have to wonder if one day you are going to wake up and realize that you hate me," said Betty. "For stealing that time away from you."

"Not going to happen, Betty. I love you and we just have to believe that we will find him and that somehow, we will all be a family again, just the way we were supposed to be." He placed the photo on the side table and then he turned back to face her. He pulled her to him. "I know that right now things are really difficult for us. I know that we are going to be okay."

"And we will have another baby, Daniel. Just not now."

"I didn't…." He shook his head. "I didn't really say that I wanted…"

She chuckled. "I know you didn't but I could tell that you were really disappointed. I could see it in your eyes. You really thought that I was planning on getting pregnant without consulting you about it."

"Well, you did say that you would show….and tell when you were ready." Daniel raised an eye brow. "I just figured that was your special project….or actually, our special project."

"Brandon could have a long road ahead of him…and I'm not saying that we have to wait a long time. I just think we should figure out what we are dealing with first and then well, we'll see. Okay?"

"Okay." Daniel said seriously. "We could always practice."

"Practice does make perfect." Betty smiled.

Daniel brought his face closer to hers. "Well, I think we should get back to practice then."

Betty giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I agree." Her lips met his.

* * *

Daniel felt Betty snuggled up to him. He reveled in the feeling of her warm body against his. Her head on his shoulder, as they both looked at the photo in his hands once again.

"Maybe we shouldn't wait, Daniel."

He turned his head towards them. "What?"

"We make some really adorable babies." She grinned playfully, as she took the photo from between his fingers. "I can tell that our son looks just like you did when you were a baby."

"You've never seen my baby pictures."

"Oh…yes. I have. I saw them when I was your assistant. Your mother invited me over for lunch one day when you were away on business….and she showed me all baby pictures and a few hours of home movies."

''All of them?"

"Yes. Even the naked ones."

"She's unbelievable." Daniel groaned.

"She said that she didn't want me to feel left out," said Betty.

"Left out? Why would you feel left out? She's never even showed my photos to Molly or even Sofia."

"Well, she didn't want me to be the only woman in New York that hadn't seen your naked butt," said Betty playfully.

Daniel chuckled before giving her a quick kiss. "Well, now you are the only one that gets to see it."

"I better be." Betty said with a light warning. She took the baby photo from him and pulled it closer.

She turned it over. "What's this?"

"What's what?"

"Daniel, there is something on the back." She handed it back to him. "I don't have my glasses and handwriting is really hard to read. Can you see what it say?"

His eyes seemed grim. "Uh….it's Adrianna's handwriting."

"What does it say?" Betty asked. "What does it say?"

Daniel remained silent.

"Daniel…"

He took a deep breath before attempting to continue. "It says that we'll never find him…and she hopes that we live unhappily ever after for the rest of our lives without….

"Without what?

"Isabella."

"Daniel….no!" Betty shot up in bed. "Not Isabella."

He got out of bed quickly, pulled on his boxers. His heart pounded as he fumbled for his phone. "I'm calling the police."

"What if she already got to her?" Betty began to cry as she began to get dressed. "What if she has both of them now?

As he finished dialing, he approached Betty and placed a calming hand on her. "Why don't you call Tyler and Amanda? You'll see. I'm sure that she is sleeping peacefully in her own bed."

She nodded in agreement. "Good idea." She let out a shaky breath.

Betty went over and retrieved her cell phone and began to make the call.

As he talked to the police station, he continued to watch Betty make repeated attempts to reach Tyler and Amanda. It was clear to him that she was having no luck at all.

And Daniel was afraid that Betty might be right and that terrified him.

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	30. Chapter 30

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Seriously, I'm on Chapter 30. I find that really hard to believe. I feel like I still have a TON more story to tell here. A few chapters ago, I said 10 more chapters….and now, I can tell you that I'm not even sure. It could be more than that. Right now, I'm committed to this story. No new stories until I finish this one. Thank you to everyone that has left comments and feedback. You guys really do keep me inspired._

* * *

**Chapter 30**

When she and Daniel rushed through the front door of their home, they found that Tyler and Amanda and the kids were up late, watching a movie in the living room. Their first thoughts were that something horrible had happened were momentarily replaced with the humorous sight of Brandon sprawled out on one end of the couch, while Tyler, Amanda and Isabella were crammed together at the other end of the couch.

It amazed both Daniel and Betty that Brandon was able to sleep with the volume turned up so loud. The neighbors could probably even hear the musical melodies of Simba, Timon and Pumba.

It was no wonder why no one heard the phone ring when Betty called….and Amanda and Tyler's cell phones were upstairs in the guest room because the last thing they expected was Betty or Daniel to call on their honeymoon night.

Once she and Daniel were able to get their erratically beating hearts under control while Daniel and Tyler took care of business downstairs, Betty and Amanda put the kids to beds. The last thing that Betty wanted them to see was a police officer at their door at this hour. Because Betty knew that Isabella and Brandon would be full of questions and she didn't want them to be afraid in their own home.

Betty and Daniel were afraid enough for all of them. The thought that Adrianna seemed determined to continue her intrusion into their life and knowing that she was capable of anything made them both want to pack up and run away to a place where they couldn't be found. Of course, that was not an option.

As Betty closed Brandon's bedroom door, she walked down the hall, peeking into Isabella's room. She too was fast asleep in her bed. As she closed the door, she started for the stairway. She could hear Daniel's voice as he spoke with the police detective.

It had been over an hour already since they had arrived. Daniel had told her that he would take care of everything. And she had faith that he would go to the ends of the earth to find their son because they both knew he was alive out there somewhere. The photo was proof that he hadn't died at birth.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Betty saw Daniel showing the officer out. She stood there at the bottom of the staircase and watched him, locking the door up tight. She walked toward him once the door was closed.

"Well…" Despite that all the doors and windows were locked and Adrianna's threat had been nothing more than her mind games, Betty still was not at ease. It was clear at this point that Adrianna was a certifiably insane. If she wanted to get in, she would get in.

"They are going to look into it."

"Look into it?" Betty narrowed. "She threatened to kidnap our baby and she tried to kill you. There is no telling what she is going to do next."

"There is no proof that she was the one that left those for us."

"You said it was her handwriting.

"It was but it is possible that someone else delivered it. I don't think Adrianna would be that stupid to deliver it herself." Daniel wrapped his arms; a move that Betty knew was to comfort her. "Especially since the police were already looking for her.

"I guess you have a point. I just want this all to be over. I want us to have a normal life, Daniel."

"And we will." He leaned his forehead against hers, as they stood there together in the entryway, where only a few feet away was the closet where just a few weeks ago, Betty had hidden from Daniel, on the same day that Adrianna had tried to sink her claws into Daniel and he said Betty's name instead. As painful as it was knowing that Daniel had almost been with Adrianna was, Betty was thankful that she did get to see what kind of person she was and that Betty herself was the reason that never happened. Her only regret was that she didn't jump out of the closet and take that witch down and show her what a woman from Queens was capable of. "They are going over the tapes and they are going to talk to the people who work at the front desk."

"Did you tell them everything?" She swallowed hard. It suddenly felt hard to breathe.

"Yes. I gave him the private investigator's number. I showed him the ultrasound photos. I showed him the photo Adrianna sent us…and I even showed them the certificate from the hospital. It's obvious that someone took him from us and that someone is determined to cover it up, even the detective agreed that it was suspicious."

"Well…I guess that's something. Perhaps, they can find him."

"But…"

"But what?" Betty' heart fell once again.

"It's been over six years, Betty." Daniel said cautiously. "They said we really shouldn't get our hopes up of finding him."

"I can't accept that." Betty shook her head. "You can't tell me that you can."

"No. I don't," said Daniel. "That's why I'm going with Tyler to Botswana on Monday."

"Daniel, Brandon's treatments start on Monday. He is going to want you to be there. He's scared enough as it is."

"I know. We will leave as soon as he's done," said Daniel. "Amanda will stay here with you. In fact, it might be a good idea for all of you to stay at my mother's."

Betty knew that this decision could haven't been easy for Daniel; having to choose to be with one son, over searching for the other son. As she looked in her eyes, she could see that it was tearing Daniel apart.

"Okay." Betty said simply. There was no point in making this harder for Daniel.

"Okay? You aren't going to give me a hard time."

"No." She shook her head gently. "I'm sure that you aren't taking this decision lightly. I'll be here with Brandon. I'll take care of him while you go find our other baby."

"Exactly…and I'll be in contact as much as I can.," said Daniel. "I'm going to hire security for house and a bodyguard to go with you wherever you go."

"Daniel, that's going scare the kids."

"Tell them he's an uncle or something. I'm not going to leave knowing that you and the kids are not protected," said Daniel.

"Okay." She said softly.

"It's only for a few days." He inched towards her lips and whispered. "I just want to find that doctor and talk to him myself. He has to know something. I mean, why would he give up his life in London to do missionary work in Botswana?"

"I don't know. I'm sure Matt could answer that question for you though. I can't believe that he went there for six months….and seven years later, he's still there. I mean, it's a great thing that he found something he was passionate about."

"I just hope he's willing to help me once he finds out about us. I think the last time we saw him was at your launch party in London," said Daniel. "He seemed pretty interested in you that night."

"No, I don't think so. It doesn't matter though because it was you that took me home," said Betty. "Anyway, I should remind you that he had a girlfriend then….but she didn't join him that night because she was sick."

"Lucky me! If he had been available, we might not be in this situation." Daniel said half-heartedly.

"Daniel, I went home with the one that I wanted that night," said Betty. "I wanted you."

"Good to know." Daniel said playfully.

"I just wish that I hadn't freaked out and pushed you away." She lifted eyes to his.

"Water under the bridge, my love."

Betty grinned. "I love you, Daniel."

"And I love you too." He kissed the tip of her nose.

"Matt and I were over when he left New York. And anyway, you told me that he got married. He must have married that girl he brought to London with him for the launch party and they have a son together. It just shows that he must have been very serious about her and had no interest in me."

"Tyler said they are divorced now. Something about her disappearing in the middle of the night...leaving him a note and leaving their son with him, saying that she was returning to New York and getting back together with her first love. She even told Matt that his son belonged to someone else."

"That's terrible." Betty felt for Matt.

"It is." Daniel said agreeably.

"Who does his son belong to?" She asked.

"I don't know. Tyler said that the little time that he was able to talk to Matt on the phone earlier. He didn't seem willing to open up about it."

"Did Tyler tell Matt about us getting married?"

"No. He figured that we'll break that news when we get there."

"Probably a good idea. I'm sure that even after everything, he still remember that punch you gave him when he accused us of sleeping together."

"You know, I have my regrets that we didn't do anything that night." Daniel admitted.

"Daniel, you didn't love me then. You were still greiving Molly."

"That doesn't mean that I didn't love you. I think I loved you even before Molly. I was just afraid that if I screwed up then I would lose you forever."

"Maybe...but anyway, Matt was not interested in me. If he was, he would have said so….but I assure you the last time I saw him was the night of the launch party. He never attempted to contact me."

"Okay, okay…No more Matt talk. Talking about my wife's ex is not a turn on…." Daniel placed his finger over her lip and looked her directly in the eyes. "The kids are asleep. Tyler and Amanda are in their room. I think we need to pick up where we left off earlier."

"Daniel, our room is right next to Amanda and Tyler's….and I know you have a hard time being quiet. We can't…"

"Oh…I don't think I am the one that has a problem keeping quiet, little lady. I'm surprised they didn't kick us out of the hotel with all your screams and moans," said Daniel playfully. His lips pressed against her neck, taking her breath away. "They probably thought the place was haunted." He murmured.

"Daniel, we are…in front of the door." Betty was now pinned against the hall closet door, as Daniel reached around for the zipper on her dress, as he pulled at her dress and sucked at her neck. "We….oh, god…that feels good."

Daniel pulled his lips away from her neck and looked her in the eye. "I intend to give you enough of me to last you until I return from my trip."

She giggled. "Daniel…." She couldn't even find the words to describe the amorous look in his eyes.

"Come on." He reached for her hand, taking it in his.

"Where are we going?" Betty moved away from the door.

"In here." Daniel opened the large hall closet, pulled her inside with him and closed the door behind him.

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	31. Chapter 31

**The Ties That Bind **

_Author's Note: Thank you so much for all the feedback and comments. I absolutely love all the theories about what is going on here. I enjoy them so much. I encourage you to keep it up because I love hearing your reactions to what is going through your mind as the reader. You guys are awesome! Thank you._

* * *

**Chapter 31 **

After spending the last 32 agonizing hours traveling around the world on a cramped airplane, the last thing that Daniel wanted to do was socialize with Matt Hartley. The flight was uncomfortable enough and he and Matt didn't have the most amicable history.

In fact, Daniel wasn't a Hartley fan for many reasons. First off, there was the history between his mother and Cal. Second, there was the way that Cal refused to accept Tyler as his son, despite Tyler's attempts to reach out and form some type of relationship and then there was the fact that Matt dated Betty.

Still, Betty asked him to be on his best behavior during the short visit and he promised that he would do his best to restrain himself from punching anyone…or anything.

After all, Daniel was on a very important mission here and he needed to stay focused on the goal of finding that information that would hopefully lead them to finding their long-lost son. Daniel could only hope that this trip wasn't a wasted one and that Matt would be able to help them find the doctor that might be able to give them the answers that they were looking for.

So far though, the trip had not gone the way that way that Daniel had planned. First, they had hit several delays in their flight over here and then their plans for accommodations changed too.

As soon as he and Tyler got off the plane, Matt was waiting for the, insisting that they stay with him, instead of the hotel that they had reserved in Gaborone.

After a little hesitation, Daniel gave in. At least, it was only for a few days. When they had finally reached Matt's home, Daniel was quite surprised by Matt's home. He had envisioned Matt living in a hut on the river. Not a four bedroom house with a pool.

"When is my nephew going to be here? Tyler asked, as Daniel entered the room. "I can't wait to meet him."

"He's excited about your visit. Daniel will be here soon." Matt leaned against the counter.

"I'm right here." Daniel looked out the window at the small pool. With the heat, it was looking pretty good about now.

"Actually, it's my son's name. I call him Danny though."

"Oh…" Daniel turned around.

"Now I have two nephews and a brother named Daniel. This is going to make Christmas very confusing." Tyler said playfully.

"It's a popular name. I guess." Matt pulled a few bottles of water out for the group, placing them on the counter. "My wife picked it. I didn't have much choice in the matter."

"Well, I can't wait to meet him," said Tyler.

"How old is your son?" Daniel tried to do his best to make conversation.

"He just turned six in April," said Matt.

"Wow…My son Brandon turned six in April too and so did my daughter, Isabella." What were the odds of that?

"Twins?"

"Actually, no." Daniel shook his head. "I adopted Brandon about a year ago."

"How is Brandon doing?" Tyler turned to Daniel. "Any updates?"

"Not so good. Poor little guy has been sick all day." Daniel felt conflicted. He hated that he left Betty to take care of Brandon. Of all the times that Daniel could be away, he wished that it didn't have to be now.

"Oh..Man." Tyler nodded. "Are you sure you shouldn't turn around and go home? I can take care of things here."

"I'll call again later and check on him," said Daniel. "I might have to fly out tomorrow if he doesn't improve. I hate to leave him when he's sick like this."

"I know." Tyler nodded.

"What's wrong with him?" Matt asked curiously.

"He was diagnosed with leukemia and just started treatments on Monday. I hate that I'm not there…" Daniel said, as he continued to carry around the guilt of not being there while Brandon was going through such a difficult time. He knew that it wasn't going to subside until he was home with his family.

"Why are you here then? Tyler just said that you needed my help to track someone down. I'm sure he could have done that himself." Matt said bluntly. "What could be more important than your son?"

"My other son is missing." Daniel sat down in the chair at the kitchen table.

"Oh…" Matt took his eyes away from Daniel, as he handed Tyler one of the bottles.

"That's why we are here. We need to find the doctor who delivered him because something happened when he was born. Someone kidnapped him and they told my wife that he died at birth. Now, we recently found out that wasn't the case at all." Daniel felt the weight of the world on his chest.

"That must have been hard for you and Betty." Matt said regrettably.

"You knew that Betty and I got married."

"I mean, I assumed so. I saw Betty in London and she was pregnant. I figured that you two had finally figured what most people at MODE had already figured out." Matt made his way around the counter and pulled up a stool.

"You saw Betty when she was pregnant?" Daniel felt a twinge of something he wasn't sure. Could it be envy? Or perhaps, jealousy? "I didn't think Betty had seen you since the launch party."

"She didn't see me. My wife….actually, my ex-wife now, and I were in London. We saw her crossing the street while we were in town visiting a friend."

"When was this?"

"About six months after the launch party."

"So you didn't contact Betty while you were in London?" Daniel didn't know why it mattered. Maybe, it bothered him that Matt had known Betty was pregnant years before he had. It made Daniel wonder if there was anyone else who might have known as well and didn't bother to share that important piece of information with him.

Matt continued. "I was going to call Betty when I was in London but my wife ended up in the hospital the next day, complications with her pregnancy."

He continued. "Then…my wife went missing from the hospital the next day."

"Missing?" Daniel didn't feel the urge to correct Matt on the amount of time that he and Betty had been married. Not yet, anyway.

"She checked herself out and took half the money in our checking account and left," said Matt.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Tyler asked. "This is the first I'm hearing about this."

"It's not like she was abducted. She left me," said Matt. "She came back up here a few months later, telling me that she needed some time to think because she thought I was still in love with Betty," said Matt. "Which is crazy…despite everything, I loved her. I married her."

"Why would she think that you were still in love with Betty?" Daniel asked.

"It's my fault. After we made that special trip to London for Betty's party and then…me going on and on about how much Betty inspired me…well, that's the last thing she wanted to hear. Anyway, she came back a few months later with Danny. Now, I look back and I'm pretty sure that Betty had nothing to do with her leaving me. She probably left because she couldn't live with the guilt that he wasn't my son at all."

"But he's still here?" Tyler asked.

"Yes. He's still my son. I've raised him. I'm the only parent that he's really had. My ex was or is…a little unstable."

"So he's not yours." Tyler asked.

"No. I had a DNA test done. He is my son in every way that matters though. I love him as if he were my own," said Matt. "That's all I care about."

"I know what you mean. I feel the same way about Brandon." Daniel smiled, remembering the first time he saw five-year old Brandon when his aunt showed up at Daniel's front door.

"Did she tell you who his father was?" Tyler asked plainly.

"No. She just said that it was an old boyfriend" Matt shook his head. "And honestly, there is no telling. Matthew has no idea that I'm not his dad and I don't plan on telling him until he is old enough to understand."

"So…his mother never comes to see him at all."

"She just wanted money….and I got Danny. I'm assuming that Adrianna…"

"Wait… Adrianna?" Daniel cut in abruptly. "Her last name wouldn't be Carson, would it?"

"Yes. Actually, Adrianna Hartley. I'm assuming that she's probably dropped the Hartley name by now."

Tyler looks at Daniel and then back to Matt. "Adrianna..."

"So you know her?" Matt's eyes narrowed.

"I'm sorry to say that I do." Daniel got up. He was suddenly uncomfortable with Matt's mood shift. "There was an incident last week and I was nearly killed because of her. That woman doesn't know how to take no for an answer. She kept telling me that she wanted to sleep with me in exchange for information on my son, and if that wasn't bad enough, she sent us a threat a few days ago that made it sound like she wanted to kidnap Isabella."

"She's okay?" Matt asked. "Isabella is okay, right?"

"Isabella is fine. Of course, it's been kind of hard to explain why she can't go to school for the past few days, except that Betty wants her home with Brandon." Daniel sighed. "And all the security…

"So…how do you know Adrianna?" Matt interrupted Daniel and got down from the stool. He approached him.

"Adrianna and I grew up together. She was my first girlfriend…and lived down the street. She and I have worked closely together for the last year," Daniel explained. "Until I…"

"Oh…" Matt chuckled. "I see."

"You see what exactly?"

"It makes sense now. No wonder Adrianna was seemed freaked out when I told her that Betty was pregnant with your baby."

"What?"

"I think it might be better if you leave, Daniel." Matt's eyes turned dark.

"Matt, what's going on?" Tyler made his way across the room to try to defuse the situation between his two brothers.

"Actually, you both need to leave too." Matt turned quickly towards Tyler. "I see exactly what you two are up to."

Matt continued. "Daniel, you figured you could use Tyler to get to me.

"Up to what?" Daniel said. "I'm just here to find my son."

"How could you do that to Betty?"

"Do what to Betty?"

"Come on. You obviously cheated on Betty. Adrianna named our son Daniel….and it's obvious now that she named him after his real father…her old boyfriend, Daniel Meade." Matt grabbed him by the arm. "Perhaps, you two saw each other in London and figured you would rekindle the flame one more time before you settled down."

"I never had a child with Adrianna. I haven't had a relationship…other than a professional one in years," Daniel didn't feel the need to explain anything about his and Betty's relationship at this point. "I am committed to Betty."

"Just like you were committed to half the women in Manhattan." Matt chuckled.

"You are one to talk about that. If I remember right, you were running in the same circle." Daniel was about two seconds from punching Matt for his accusations. He remembered his promise to Betty though. "You have as many skeletons in your closet as I do."

"Just get out, Daniel." Matt ordered.

"Let's sit down and talk about this." Tyler placed one hand on each of his brother's shoulders, trying to settle this once again. "Rationally."

"He started it." Matt and Daniel said simultaneously.

"It doesn't matter who started it." Tyler groaned.

They heard the front door opened. They all turned to see a woman and a brown-haired little boy with blue eyes stood in the doorway.

"Dad!"

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**Author's Note: This is a reposted chapter. In the previous verison, ****_I accidently called Matt's son, Matthew. His name is Daniel. (but goes by Danny.) It's been fixed. Matt only has one son._**


	32. Chapter 32

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I really appreicate it_.

**Chapter 32**

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As Betty made her way toward the Shakespeare garden, where only a few weeks ago, she had told Daniel her darkest and most painful secret and in return, he told her that he loved her. She moved along the stone path towards the bench they shared together that day. She wished that he was here with her.

He had been away for a week now. His visit had been longer than he had initially intended. The kids missed him. She missed him but Betty knew that Daniel was doing his best to get home to them as soon as he could.

The sacrifice would be worth it. He was going to find their son and they were all going to be a family again. The way they should have been.

Betty looked back to see her bodyguard Sam following her. She just wanted some time alone while she waited for Daniel to call her. It was always at the same time every day. He called her without fail. It was the daily connection that would keep her going until they were together again.

So Betty knew that today Daniel would call once again without fail because he needed that connection just as much as she did. But today would a little different from the days before, today Daniel said he hoped to have some news about their search.

She was anxious because so far, Daniel had remained tight-lipped about whatever was going on there, on the other side of the world. Her best guess was that he didn't want raise her hopes, only to dash them if their leads turned out to be nothing.

Just as settled on the bench, her cell phone rang. She quickly glanced at the time and right on the dot, it was Daniel.

"Hi, Sweetie!" Daniel cut in before she could even say anything.

Just the sound of his voice made Betty ache for him more. "Hi!"

"I called mom's house and they said you were out. Did you take the body guard with you?" Daniel asked.

Betty looked down the path and saw Sam sitting on a bench, reading a newspaper. "Yes. I did. I just needed to get out and get some air. It's been non-stop all day. I had to take Brandon to the doctor this morning and then I had to go get Isabella's work from school. I just needed some "me" time."

She added. "My dad is the kids. Don't worry. He is cooking them dinner and trying to find something that Brandon will eat."

"I'll be home soon." Daniel's tone seemed more hopeful.

"It's okay."

"You have no idea how much I want to be there. I hate that it's taken us this long to track down Dr. Rubin," said Daniel.

"Did you find anything out?" Betty was almost afraid to ask. Then again, she knew that she wanted to know everything.

"Actually…." Then, there was silence.

"Daniel, what did you find out?" Her heart was beating fast. The anticipation was too much. "Please don't hold back. Even if it's bad, I need to know."

"Adrianna…"

"She did this?"

"Yes, she did." Daniel said solemnly. "Well…actually, there's more."

"Daniel, what's going on? Is our son alive? Do you know where he is?" Betty felt like her heart was about to explode.

"When we found Doctor Rubin he confessed to what occurred in the hospital that day," said Daniel. "He delivered our twins. Two healthy babies. One boy. One girl."

"And?"

"He was actually pretty remorseful about what he had done. He told me that he did everything he could to make it right. He just could bring himself to come to you years later and tell you the truth."

"Daniel continued on to tell Betty about Adrianna paying the doctor to give her the baby and how Dr. Rubin had told her how determined Adrianna was to get her hands on the Meade heir, which left the doctor Betty that their son had died.

"She wanted your son." Betty felt nauseous, as the pieces of the puzzles started to fall together.

"Apparently, she was fixated on me. I guess she thought that things could be like they were when we were younger….and before she broke my heart. At least, that's the best conclusion that I can come to. She figured that by having my son. She would have me….I guess."

"How did she even know that I was pregnant with your child? I mean, no one else knew. I never told anyone else that they were yours." Betty tried to search her mind about whether she had allowed that secret to slip to anyone. Honestly, she couldn't think of a single soul. Christina had been the only one but even she didn't know until after everything happened.

"Well, Matt saw you in London while he and Adrianna were visiting. He mentioned that he thought that you and I were married….and he saw you were pregnant," said Daniel. "It was clear to him the last time he saw use in London that we were in love. So he just assumed…"

"How does Matt know her?"

"They were married." Daniel said bluntly.

"Married? Matt was married to her." Betty was shocked to say the least.

"And she was pregnant at the same time you were. She and Matt were going to have a son but the day after Matt saw you on the street, Adrianna was hospitalized where she found out that her baby had died. Apparently, it pushed her over the edge. She left Matt and never told him about the baby. Months later, she showed back up with a baby. Last year, she left Matt again and left him with a child that she told him was not his."

He added. "I just can't figure out why she would leave the child she went through so much trouble to get and come after me."

"That's easy, Daniel. She was determined to actually have your baby. Not mine and yours. She wanted you and her to create your own baby," said Betty, a bit harshly. So harsh, she regretted it. This wasn't Daniel's fault. "I'm sorry…it's just, you said it yourself. She tried countless times to get you into bed. In fact, she almost killed you trying to do that. I guess stealing our baby wasn't enough. She was determined that she was too determined to actually have your baby."

"There is no way that was going to happen." Daniel said plainly. "The only woman who I want a baby with is you."

_Betty knew this_.

"Daniel, for all we know, she might be pregnant with your baby. You have a couple of hours that are unaccounted for the night she drugged you," said Betty. "And she is obviously capable of anything."

She inhaled deeply and tried to gather herself. She just wished that Daniel was with her now, instead of on the other side of the world. Betty wanted to wish this all away. She wanted to wish Adrianna away to a desert island, far, far away.

"Betty, are you still there?"

The tears started to fall. "I'm still here." She wiped away the tear that ran down her cheek.

"Betty, I love you."

"I know you do."

"Nothing she is ever going to change that. I know this is really painful but I promised you that we are going to get through this," said Daniel.

He added. "And…I think found our son, Betty."."

"You did." Betty's heart lifted immediately. Then, Betty realized that she had over looked that obvious piece of information, while she was focused on Adrianna's bad deeds. Suddenly, it was like the light flooded into the darkness that had crept into her world only moments earlier.

"Well, the DNA tests haven't been done yet but Betty; he looks so much like me when I was a kid. He has brown hair and blue eyes. I'm pretty sure that he has your nose." Daniel said happily.

"Daniel…" Betty couldn't control the tears. She wanted to run home now and tell everyone that Daniel had succeeded and that they were going to be a family again. Daniel was going to bring their son home, where he would join his brother, Brandon and his twin sister, Isabella…and maybe a new brother or sister, very soon. "Are you bringing him home?"

"Well…."

"Daniel, you have to. I want to see him."

"I'll send you a picture."

"What's his name?" Betty asked curiously. She felt a twinge of hurt that she didn't get the name her own son.

"Daniel."

"His name is Daniel." Betty's heart melted. True, they already had one Daniel Junior in the family but he was Daniel's nephew. It felt right that Daniel's actual son should have his name. "Well, at least she got something right."

"Yeah." Daniel agreed.

"So…you are bringing him home to New York?" She asked again. "Right?"

"Tyler got Matt to agree to come back to New York with us, until we have the official results. If we have the test done here, it will take forever and it will just be easier to deal with everything back there."

"Just make sure you sent it to a reliable lab?" Betty chuckled.

"Yes. Of course, I wouldn't want to mess up something this important," Daniel chuckled before it turned serious. "Once the test is back, Matt said he will discuss an arrangement with us."

Betty couldn't help but feel happy for their family but sad for Matt. After all, he would be losing the child that he had raised all these years as his own. She knew couldn't be easy. In fact, she knew what it felt like to lose a child.

"When will you be home?" Betty couldn't wait to go back home..

"We'll be home tomorrow night" Daniel smiled.

"Great." Betty smiled, as she took a deep breath. "I'll bring the kids home tomorrow and we'll be there waiting for you."

"I love you, Daniel."

"I love you too," said Daniel. "I can't wait to see you. Listen, I have to go."

"Okay." Betty smiled. "See you soon."

As Betty got off the phone, she took a deep breath and felt for the first time. She and Daniel were on the path to bringing their family back together again.

She got up and started down the path. She looked ahead to see Sam but found that he was gone from the place he had been only moments earlier.

As she continued on, she felt a presence behind her. She turned to see Adrianna standing there.

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	33. Chapter 33

**The Ties That Bind**

Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I am so sorry for the delay. I've been swamped with homework the past couple days and real life too. I appreicate your patience. I love each and every one of your comments and theories.

**Chapter 33**

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Through the town car window, Daniel could see the Manhattan skyline. The lights welcoming him back home from very long journey. In the distance he could see the Brooklyn Bridge, it instantly made him think of Betty and how much he ached to hold her in his arms again.

They had been married for 13 days now. He had been gone for 11 of those. He just couldn't wait until the DNA test was settled, Brandon was on the road to recovery and they could find their way to a normal family life.

They were still on that road with no end in sight. As long as they were together, they would be fine. With Matt and Danny on the way to their hotel, Tyler and Daniel were headed for home to see the kids, Amanda and Betty.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping out with Matt. It really means a lot to Betty and I," Daniel said sincerely.

"No problem." Tyler glanced at Daniel quickly and then back out the window.

During Daniel and Tyler's visit, Matt had agreed to allow Daniel to spent time with Danny, as long as he didn't confuse him by telling him that Daniel might be his father. Once the DNA test was completed, they would discuss what the next step would be.

Daniel had to admit he actually felt sorry for Matt. In a matter of days, he found out that Adrianna had lost their child and that the child he had raised might belong to one of his least favorite people in the world and his ex-girlfriend.

Despite Daniel's personal feelings for Matt, he knew that had to look past that when he saw how much Danny loved Matt. Danny was happy and that was all that he and Betty wanted. There would have to be a compromise that would allow them and Matt to be a part of his life nit they would just have to cross that bridge when they came to it.

"Did you talk to Amanda?" Daniel looked over to the opposite side of the town car.

"Yes." Tyler said plainly. There was something in his tone and his mannerisms that told Daniel that something was wrong, even though Tyler kept telling him that everything was fine.

"Did she know why I haven't been able to get ahold of Betty for the past three days?" Daniel asked. He hadn't talked to Betty since the day he told her that he was coming home. Thanks to a 36 hour layover in Johannesburg, South Africa, their trip had been longer than planned.

_A 28 hour trip turned into a 62 hour one._

"They are fine."

"You are lying, Tyler."

"I…no…they are fine. I wouldn't lie to you about that."

"What's wrong then? Is it Brandon?" Daniel asked. He knew that Brandon had another treatment yesterday. Daniel hated to miss it. He had promised Brandon that he would be there beside him through everything.

"It's Betty but….she's fine now." Tyler said reassuringly.

"Driver…I need you to take us to Stuyvesant Memorial." Tyler called out.

"Tyler. Is Betty hurt? You said she was fine. Why are we going to the hospital?"

"Adrianna took Betty a few days ago when she was in Central Park."

"A few days…and you are just telling me about this." Daniel felt his heart rise into his throat.

"Daniel, we all thought it would be better until they knew what they were dealing with," said Tyler. "And it wasn't like you could do anything. You were in another country. I checked on getting a flight out sooner. It was impossible. I figured that if you knew, you would have gotten a boat and paddled back to New York."

"I don't understand. You said she was in Central Park. I talked to her when she was in Central Park. She had her bodyguard," said Daniel.

"Adrianna shot Betty's bodyguard. He's okay though but he lost of blood," said Tyler.

"What about Betty?"

"Adrianna had her in a hotel in Brooklyn until yesterday," said Tyler. "There was a struggle and the gun went off."

"Betty…"

"Betty is fine. She was a little beaten up. She had a knock on the head. They are keeping her tonight for observation. She can go home in the morning."

"What about the kids?

"They are at mom's house. Amanda has kept them away from the television and told them that Betty went to get you and would be home soon."

"Good." Daniel let out a sigh. "Are you sure that Betty's okay? I mean...why are they keeping her in the hospital."

"They…uh…just want to make sure that everything was fine." Tyler said. "She apparently put up a fight."

"And Adrianna?"

"She was shot." Tyler said plainly. "And killed."

About ten minutes later, Daniel rushed into the hospital and up to Betty's hospital room. The whole time, his heart beat wildly. He just wanted to hold Betty in his arms and to make sure that she was okay.

Once he reached her room, he stood there in the doorway for a moment and just stared at her, lying there with her eyes closed.

How was it possible that she looked a thousand times more beautiful now than the last time he saw her face? Even though the bruises and cuts, she took his breath away.

"Betty…"

Her eyes opened and a smile came to her face instantly. "Daniel…"

He moved over to her bedside as fast as his feet would carry him. He couldn't get his arms around her fast enough.

"Sweetie, I'm so sorry." Daniel couldn't help but feel like this whole thing with Adrianna was his fault. After all, he had hired her and that only encouraged her fixation on him.

"Daniel…you are holding me too tight. I can't breathe." She managed to utter.

He released his grip but not his hold on her. He was never ever letting go of her again. "Oh..Sorry…"He said sheepishly.

"I'm so glad you are home, Daniel."

"Me too…and I'm never leaving again. I should have never left you in the first place," said Daniel.

"You had to go find our baby," said Betty. "The whole time that Adrianna held my captive, I just kept thinking that I had to get out of there alive, so that I could see him and so that we could be a family."

Daniel wiped the tears away from Betty's cheek. The bruises on her face made his blood boil. "Tyler told me that Adrianna was shot and killed."

"Yes." She nodded and then moved over and motioned for him to get into bed beside her. He slipped off his shoes and slid in beside her.

"The nurse is going to kick me out." Daniel pulled his arm around her and Betty snuggled in closer.

"I'd like to see her try. You are the only medicine we need." Betty looked up at him.

He leans down and kisses her, softly at first and then he lifted his hand to her cheek and deepened the kiss until finally they had to come up for air.

As they parted, Betty took a deep breath. "I needed that." She smiled.

"How's Brandon?"

"Papi and Hilda took him to his treatment today. He is doing a little better than last time. I spoke with the doctor though and they are talking about bone marrow donors."

"That reminds me I never heard back from his aunt. I'll call her tomorrow," said Daniel. "I'll take care of everything."

"Okay." She rested her head against his shoulder. "I'm so glad you are home, Daniel. I know I keep saying that but I really am. Please don't ever leave me alone again."

He kissed the top of her head. "I won't. You are going to get sick of me."

"I don't think that's possible," said Betty. "I was so scared when Adrianna had me in that hotel room. She was so obsessed with you. She told me that she belonged with you and that I was in the way."

Betty took a deep breath before continuing. "When I tried to ask her about Danny, she lost it. I tried to find out why she would leave him with Matt, if what she wanted was your child….and that only made her pull the gun on me. She said she was tired of people making a fool of her and that she was going to have you and that she had to get rid of me because I was an obstacle."

Daniel couldn't imagine the fear that Betty must have felt and how he wished that he could have protected her from that.

"I knew that I had to get the gun away from her. If I didn't, she was going to shoot me," said Betty. "But…I didn't mean for her to die."

"Of course not, it was self-defense, Betty."

She looked up at him. "But…it could have been me, Daniel. She could have shot me. I could be the one in the morgue right now." The tears ran down her face and Daniel pulled his arms around her, encircling her completely.

"But you are here." Daniel brought his forehead to hers. "And I'm never letting go."

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	34. Chapter 34

**The Ties That Bind **

_Author's Note: Thank you for the comments and feedback, as always. I really appreciate each one of them. They keep me inspired (and even though I know exactly how the story is going to end). You make me think about what is going on. Feedback is so important. I'm glad that you are still enjoying the story because it means a lot to me._

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**Chapter 34**

The aromas of her father's cooking floated through the air of the Meade household. Though, it had only been hours since she had come home from the hospital, Betty wanted to make this night's dinner extra special.

After all, Matt was bringing little Danny to dinner and she wanted to make a good impression on the six-year-old that could be her son.

"Thank you so much for cooking for us, Papi." Betty grabbed a step-ladder from the small closet, just outside the kitchen to get something from the top of one of the cabinets.

"Mija, it's my pleasure. Anyway, you aren't in any condition to be doing it yourself." Ignacio wiped his hands off and tried to take the step-ladder from her. "It'll take that."

"Papi, I'm fine. You are as overprotective as Daniel." She kept the ladder from his reach. "I'm not made of glass."

"We are just concerned about you. You've been through a lot the last few days," said Ignacio. "What do you need? Let me help you."

"I am more than capable of doing it myself. I just want the dishes that Claire gave me. I want to use them tonight."

Her father threw his hands up, obviously aware that he wouldn't win the battle over the step-ladder. "Okay. Don't say that I didn't offer to help you?"

Betty opened the step-ladder and started up it. "I don't know why Hilda had to put these dishes up so high. Doesn't she remember how short I am?"

"Let me help."

"I have it." As she reached the top step, she felt wave of dizziness. She held the cabinet door. "Oh…."

"Betty!" Daniel rushed into the room, just in time to grab her from falling. He grabbed ahold of her and placed her back on the ground. "What were you thinking? You could have been hurt."

His hand grazed her stomach and looked in her eyes. They were the only two that knew about what had been discovered during her hospital stay.

Well, Amanda knew and of course, she told Tyler too. So…okay, they weren't the only two that knew their secret.

But…if Amanda knew, she was sure that Marc knew….which meant all of Paris knew, which meant that Alexis would be calling soon. So, both Daniel and Betty knew they were on borrowed time letting everyone else know. They just wanted to get through the next couple days.

Now that Adrianna was no longer a threat, things were beginning to look up. They were meeting Little Danny. They were having another baby. Brandon's aunt was coming into town next week to discuss options for bone marrow. Things were getting better and Betty was hopeful about the future ahead for all of them.

"I tried to tell her. She wouldn't listen." Ignacio shook his head as he left the room. "Anyway, dinner is ready. I've got to get back to Queens. Justin is helping Isabella put on a Fashion Show and Elena is saving me a seat."

Daniel chuckled. "Sounds like fun. Take pictures."

"Oh…I sure will. Isabella is using Bobby as a model." Ignacio smiled. "He's going to look pretty funny in a tiara and a boa."

"Thank you for watching the kids, Papi."

"I love spending time with my grandchildren….and I look forward to spending time with the new little one too. It keeps me young."

"Papi!" Betty's eyes grew wide. "How…did you know?"

He placed his hand on Betty's shoulder. "It's obvious, just look at the two of you. It's in your eyes."

As both she and Daniel watched her father leave, they stood there in the kitchen, still holding on to each other. "I guess the cat is out of the bag now."

"Amanda can't keep her mouth shut." Daniel chuckled.

"I'm sure half of Europe knows by now." Betty giggled.

"You didn't answer my question, sweetie. Why were you on that ladder? You know the doctor told you to take it easy. You have a concussion and should be resting."

"I was just trying to get the dishes." Betty looked up at Daniel, sorrowfully. Hoping that puppy dog eyes were get him to forgive her for doing something stupid and not allowing anyone to help her.

"I'll get them down for you." Daniel shook his head. "Am I going to have to keep you under lock and key for the next nine months?"

"Oh…that sounds like fun." She batted her eyes at him.

"I'm serious. Promise me that you won't do that again," Daniel looked directly in her eyes.

"I promise. I'll be a good girl from now on."

"Well, you don't have to be good all the time." Daniel threw his head back, as he laughed. He brought his eyes back to her and raised his eye brow. "Just don't do anything dangerous like skydiving or climbing on ladders until after the baby is here."

"So much for mind-blowing sex," Betty said playfully. "Nine months is a long time to wait."

"What…you mean we can't have sex until…wait, that not right?" Betty could see that Daniel was putting a lot of thought into it. "You can have sex when you are pregnant."

"Oh…are you an expert now? Did you look it up on Google?"

"For your information, I asked the doctor when you were getting dressed this afternoon." Daniel confessed. "I'm new at all this pregnancy stuff. I just wanted to make sure I didn't could hurt…anything. I thought I might hit the baby in the head and cause brain damage or something."

"What an ego you have." Betty giggled.

"Don't make fun of me."

"I'm not. You are just so cute," said Betty. "You are such a wonderful father."

"Of course, we can. I was teasing you. We should just probably hold off on swinging from the chandelier though." Betty brought her lips closer.

"I can deal with that." He murmured, just as he brought his lips to hers, softly. As they parted, Betty gave him a mischievous grin

"In fact, if you are a good boy tonight and play nice with Matt, you might get lucky when they leave to go back to the hotel tonight. Hilda isn't bring the kid's home until the morning."

"Oh…I can be nice. Very nice," Daniel closed the distance a bit more. His hand pulled her closer to him. "I managed to make it almost two weeks without punching him. I should get a really big reward for that."

"You will be rewarded handsomely for your efforts, Mr. Meade." She ran her hand up the back of his neck. "You just have to get through tonight."

"I can't wait for you to see him, Betty." Daniel had a sparkle in his eye. "I mean, Danny….not Matt."

"I knew what you meant." She shook her head. "Did Matt take him for the test?"

"Yes. This afternoon and we should have the results in a couple of days. I don't want to rush these, like I did with Isabella's."

Betty laughed. "Good idea. No bargain DNA labs. In fact, I hope we never have to use a DNA lab again."

"I hope not either. I really do hope the results come back and tell us that he belongs to us, even though I know it's going to be painful for Matt."

"Daniel, you really do feel bad for him, don't you?"

"Of course I do. I know what it feels like to want to keep a child than you love like your own, but isn't yours. I mean, I went through the same thing with DJ."

"You are so amazing." Betty pulled him down for another kiss. This one more passionate than the last one.

She continued. "We will work it out. I don't think Matt would keep us away from him if he really does belong to us, especially keeping him away from his twin sister. That would be cruel."

"It would." Daniel agreed. "I guess I better get those dishes down for you before they arrive."

"I don't know."

"What? Did you change your mind about what dishes you wanted to use?" Daniel looked at her suspiciously.

"No. I still want them but there is something else that I want more," said Betty seductively.

"And that is?"

She tightened her hold on his neck and gave him a seductive look.

"Oh…." Daniel moved quickly, as he obviously had gotten the message without her having to say a word. He brought his lips to hers once again, moving her back against the counter as they kissed. His strong arms wrapped around her, making her feel safe and protected. Nothing would ever hurt her again, as long as she had him. For a few minutes, it was like the rest of the world faded away, as Daniel's lips traveled down her neck. Betty's eyes closed tightly.

"Uh….I'm sorry…" A voice came from the doorway, interrupting them. They both froze and turned to see Matt standing there, shocked as they were. "Betty's dad let me in."

"Hi." Betty said. "Where's Danny?"

"He's in the living room with your dad." Matt was clearly uncomfortable.

Daniel and Betty brought their eyes back to one another and let go of each other.

"I'll get those dishes for you, honey." Daniel said awkwardly, reaching for her hand and he squeezed it.

"Thanks, Daniel." As Betty looked over Daniel, she knew that it was going to be a long night.

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	35. Chapter 35

**The Ties That Bind **

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I know I keep saying how much I appreciate them…and really, I don't think I can ever say it enough. You guys are awesome. _

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**Chapter 35**

There were no words to describe the exact shade of red that consumed Betty's face when she pulled it away from his shoulder.

"Sweetie, we have nothing to be embarrassed about." He tucked a stray hair behind her ear, as he looked directly into her brown eyes.

"I know. It's just strange, seeing him again under these circumstances." Betty confessed. "And then him walking in on us…well, it just make this even more awkward."

"I get it. I do but Betty, we love each other. Matt can pine over you if he wants but it's not going to change that you and I are married and committed to one another." A huge grin came over Daniel's face. "And we are….having…a baby."

"Yes, we are." She shook her head gently and gave him a smile.

"Speaking of babies, we should probably get in there and see Danny."

Betty nodded and took a deep breath, letting it out. "Okay."

It didn't take a genius to see that Betty was nervous about this night. Her insistence for everything to be flawless told Daniel that. She always had a tendency to over compensate when she was trying to keep her mind off something.

"Everything will be fine." Daniel reached up and closed the cabinet. The dishes could wait just a few minutes. There was something more important to do right now.

With Betty's hand in his, Daniel led her into the living room where Matt and Danny were waiting on the couch. The shy little boy clung close to Matt's side.

During Daniel's time in Africa, he had done his best to bond with Danny. The boy was extremely shy though. It was just going to take time though, Daniel told himself. When the DNA test results come back, they would be able to really start the process of trying to rebuild that bond.

Daniel gazed over at her. "Betty, this is Danny."

Betty just stood there, staring at the shy six-year-old brown-haired little boy. "Hi!"

That single, barely audible word seemed to be the only thing that Betty could say, as she stood there in her almost catatonic state.

"Betty…" Daniel squeezed her hand. "Sweetheart…" What Daniel would give anything to crawl inside her mind now and find out what was going on in there, this one moment when Daniel could honest say he had no idea.

"Oh….Sorry!" Betty turned toward him. She then released his hand and made her way across the room to sit down across from the little boy.

Matt got up and walked towards Daniel, leaving Betty and Danny to get acquainted.

"We need to talk." Matt said firmly. "In the other room."

Daniel looked at Matt and then back and Betty and Danny. He really didn't want to leave Betty now.

"Come on. It can wait until later." Daniel said softly, so that little Danny didn't hear.

"It can't wait." Matt said.

Daniel reluctantly followed Matt into the kitchen, where they could speak privately. A task that Daniel really didn't want to do, mostly because he knew he wasn't going to like what Matt had to say. Since his and Matt's first interaction in Africa, things had been very tense. If not for Tyler, Matt and Danny might not even be here now.

Daniel had wished that Tyler and Amanda had been able to come over to help temper the hostility that lingered in the air.

"Okay. What is it?" Daniel said calmly. He remembered his earlier promise to Betty that he would be as nice as possible. The last thing that Betty needed now was the stress of an argument or fight between him and Matt Hartley. "If this is about me and Betty…"

"It's not about that. I'm glad that you and Betty are happy together," said Matt. "That's all I want for Betty and if you make her happy…well, I'll just have to deal with it."

It was clear that Daniel probably wasn't far off to think that despite Matt's marriage to Adrianna, he still carried a torch for Betty. Even in their brief conversations over the past few weeks, Daniel could tell that while Matt wanted Betty to be happy. Matt wasn't happy that Betty was married to Daniel. All this, "I want her to be happy with you" crap had really begun to sound more like blah…blah…blah…blah…blah blah…blah.

If Daniel weren't married to Betty, it was clear to Matt would trample any one that got in the way of his pursuit of his former girlfriend. In fact, Daniel wouldn't be surprise that Adrianna hadn't been far off in her assumptions that Matt was still in love with Betty.

Could it be possible that Matt's continued obsession with Betty could have helped driven Adrianna to madness and also fueled her own fixation with him? Maybe, she still think the baby was a way for Matt to have Betty's child and her way of having Daniel's.

But this was all speculations, of course. There still seemed to be a missing piece somewhere and the only person that would ever be able to answer those questions was gone. Now, those involved with the tangled mess were left to sort out the pieces.

Daniel started up the step-ladder to retrieve the dishes for Betty, before she attempted the climb again.

"I spoke to someone from the hospital earlier and they said that we will have the results in the morning." Matt informed Daniel.

"They said they couldn't rush the results," Daniel paused momentarily, before grabbing the dishes and placing them on the counter.

"You should know that it just takes a little money to get things moving," said Matt. "My father made a huge donation to their new cancer wing in exchange for this little favor."

Matt added. "We'll have the results first thing in the morning. But…"

"Oh…I knew there had to be a catch," Daniel started down the ladder.

"After that, Danny and I are going back to Botswana. Danny saw Adrianna's photo on the front page of the newspaper and he started asking questions and I just couldn't bring myself to explain it. I think it would be better…."

"For you to take our child away from us….away from his sister that he hasn't even met…a brother that is sick…" Daniel narrowed his eyes in disgust.

"Daniel, you saw it yourself. Danny is happy with me. Do you actually want to take him away from the only life that he has ever known?"

"He belongs here. If you really care anything about Betty's happiness, you won't do this," said Daniel.

"We don't even know if he's your son," said Matt.

"He looks just like me. He has my eyes, Matt."

"That doesn't mean he's your son." Matt laughed.

"Like you said, the DNA results will be back tomorrow." Daniel said sharply. "But I assure you as soon as we do get those results back. There is no way in hell that I'm letting you go back to Botswana with my son."

"My father has already contacted our attorneys," said Matt.

"I thought we were going to keep the attorneys out of this." Daniel should have known better than to trust Matt's words that they would try to keep this clean.

"I'm going to fight for him, even if he turns out to be yours. It's not my fault that Adrianna stole your baby. The fact is that I raised him. I'm his dad."

"So you are going to keep him from us?" Daniel was not amused.

"You all can visit him anytime you want in Botswana."

"Traveling isn't an option…but I'm sure you already took that into consideration," said Daniel.

Of course, Daniel wasn't only thinking about Brandon. He was also thinking about Betty's newly discovered condition. The last thing she needed was to fly around the world to an area prone to malaria.

"Daniel, you and Betty have two other children." Matt said almost pleadingly.

"Three…"

"Three?" Matt gave him a strange look

"Betty's pregnant."

"Really." Matt gave a small smile.

"Yes." Daniel said calmly. "And that's why I'm asking to not put her through this. She's been through enough. She has mourned the baby that she lost for seven years. If you care anything about her happiness, you won't do this to her."

Suddenly, Little Danny ran into the room and clutched onto Matt. "Daddy! I wanna go."

"We just got here." Matt looked down at Danny, as he hid behind him.

"I want to leave. I don't like it here." Little Danny hid his face.

"What's wrong, Buddy?" Daniel asked the boy.

"I better take him back to the hotel," said Matt.

"But we have dinner…" Daniel gestured to the dinner that Ignacio had spent most of the afternoon preparing there in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry but he wants to leave." Matt said bluntly.

Daniel stood there speechless, as he watched Matt take Danny and leave immediately. As soon as he heard the front door shut, he hurried back into the living room to find Betty. She wasn't there.

He heard from up the stairs, the sound of a bedroom door closing. Daniel quickly followed the sound. When he got up there, he entered the bedroom and found Betty laying on the bed, silent and turned away from him.

Daniel made his way around the bed, so that he could see her tear-stained face. "Betty, what happened?" He crawled onto the bed beside her, desperate to reach out to her.

"Nothing." Betty shook her head.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. I felt nothing," said Betty softly. "In front of me was this sweet little boy and I expected to feel something but I didn't." She closed her eyes tight, as tears slipped out and down her cheek onto the pillow. "I felt so disconnected from him."

He moved closer, placing his hand on her arm. "It's just going to take time, Betty."

"What if I never get it back?" Betty whispered.

"We will."

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	36. Chapter 36

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: So sorry for the delay. Real life has been crazy this week. I'm hoping that I can get back to my daily updates soon. I know you love them…and I do too. Sometimes, life throws unexpected curve balls though. It couldn't be helped. Thank you for the reviews and feedback. I appreciate it._

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**Chapter 36**

As Betty laid there alone in her and Daniel's bedroom, she replayed the moment over and over again in her mind of the few moments with Danny in the living room, just over an hour earlier.

In all her years on this earth, words were one thing that Betty had always been gifted with. Of all the moments that she could be speechless, why did it have to be that one? Her silence had obviously scared little Danny and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

In her mind, she had pictured this amazing reunion with her son that she had thought she lost so long ago. She expected to feel an instant connection, just like she had with Isabella, but she didn't.

There in front of her was the shy six-year old with the striking blue eyes and brown hair and the fair skin that made him look so much like Daniel did when he was exactly the same age; it was almost like Daniel himself had popped directly out of the one of those old photographs that hung on the walls of the Meade Mansion.

Despite that resemblance, Betty still felt nothing.

Daniel had assured her that it was going to take time and she knew that he was probably right. After all, seven years of bonding time had been stolen from them. Seven years that he had adjusted to his life with Matt in Botswana.

But what if it was too late to form that bond? Would it be better to just let him go and allow him to go back to Botswana and live with Matt? After all, Danny seemed happy and as much as they might love him; wouldn't it be better to just let him continue to be happy, instead of ripping the world he knew apart? It's not like Matt was a horrible parent. He had obviously taken good care of Danny.

Betty closed her eyes and sighed. It was just too much to think about.

"Betty…" She heard the bedroom door open with a squeak.

She rolled over to see Daniel standing beside the bed, leaning over to give her a kiss. As soon as they parted, he gazed in her eyes. The look on his face was one of determination.

"Come with me." He whispered. His lips still only inches from hers. "I have a surprise for you."

"Daniel, I really…I don't think I need any more surprises tonight."

"What? You love surprises?"

"Daniel, I just want to stay right here."

"I'm not going to let you stay in this bed," said Daniel. "And think about what…happened."

"You mean what didn't happen." She rolled away from him. "I'm a horrible mother, Daniel. Maybe we should just let him go back to Botswana with Matt."

"Betty, you are a terrific mother."

"Says the man whose daughter I hid from him for seven years."

Betty felt the Daniel sit on the bed behind her, placing his hand on her arm.

"Betty, you can't beat yourself up over this. All we can do is take this one step at a time….together. You aren't alone anymore."

She turned back towards him. "I'm sorry. I just…

"How about we go downstairs and have dinner…and try not to think about it tonight? In the morning, we should have the DNA results and then we will figure out what's next. Okay?"

He held out his hand. "Please? I know it will make you feel better."

"Well, I am kind of hungry." She admitted and suddenly she remembered all the food that her father had spent the afternoon preparing.

"That's my girl." Daniel grinned.

"You know food is my weak point…especially Dad's cooking," said Betty.

"I do know that, Betty. Now come on. It's going to get cold."

She looked Daniel's hand and followed him down the hall and down the stairs. Half way down the stairs, Betty could hear the sound of multiple voices coming from downstairs.

"Daniel, who's here?" She stopped on the step.

He looked up at her and smiled. "You'll see." He gently guided her down the remaining stairs.

Once at the bottom of the staircase, there was a bounty of activity. There was Amanda, Justin and Isabella over on the couch, unpacking a box of clothes. Bobby was sitting with Brandon, playing the new handheld video game that Daniel had bought for him. Claire and Hilda were setting the table with the dishes that Daniel must have gotten out of the cabinet for her. Then, Tyler came in, crossing their path with a bag from the grocery store, greeting Betty's father in the entryway to the kitchen.

"How…" Betty glanced back at Daniel. She knew that Daniel must have pulled out all the stops to get everyone here so fast, knowing that this was what she needed.

He pulled her close. "Doesn't really matter how? What matters is that they are here."

She pulled her arms around his neck and felt like she was the luckiest woman in the world to have Daniel love her…and to have this life that she knew she didn't really deserve. "I love you."

"I love you too." He leaned in closer and kissed her passionately.

"Okay, you two? I would tell you to go back upstairs but it's time to eat," said Amanda. Her comment prompted Daniel and Betty to cut their moment short. Betty felt her face turn red and saw that Daniel's face was too.

Betty felt a tug on her sleeve. She looked down to see Isabella there. "Mommy, we are going to have a fashion show after dinner. Will you be a model?"

"I….I'm really not…" She didn't want to disappoint Isabella but really she wasn't a model.

"Of course, she will be. Mommy would be a beautiful model." Daniel grinned.

"Thank you. Uncle Bobby will not cooperating at all. He refuses to wear the tiara that I picked out from him," said Isabella.

"Hey…I did not. I just said that it was too much with the rhinestone necklace and that pink boa," Bobby called out from his place on the sofa with Brandon.

"Whatever." Isabella rolled her little eyes. "If you want to be in the show, you will wear what I tell you too."

Betty couldn't help but laugh at Isabella's demands. "Isabella, go get ready for dinner…"

"Yes, Mommy." Isabella said sweetly.

Isabella hugged both Daniel and Betty, before she rushed down the hall, leaving the two alone once again.

"We have a future fashion diva on our hands. " Daniel chuckled.

"It felt like she was channeling Wilhelmina for a second." Betty smiled, thinking of the day when Isabella might sit in the editor's chair in Daniel's former office. "Hey…maybe one day, she'll be the editor of MODE."

"Yes….and then every woman will be wearing polka-dotted socks with their high heels." Daniel said playfully.

"Quit teasing me…" Betty blushed.

"I wasn't….I actually think it's hot." Daniel brought his hands to her waist.

"You do not…."

"Okay….maybe not in all cases but on you…." Daniel lifted his eye brow. "That's another story."

"I'm not convinced." Betty knew he was just trying to charm her and she had to admit that it was working.

Daniel leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "I'll prove it to you later."

As they watched everyone head into the dining room, Betty took a deep breath, as she realized that everything had a way of coming together. Their two families had come together, as one….and the same would happen with Danny, if that was what was meant to be.

Daniel was right. They would have to give it time. After all, it had been 11 years since she and Daniel had met in the MODE offices, it had taken them a lot to get to where they were today. That journey had not been easy one….and it definitely wasn't love at first sight.

After getting over their first impression of each other, she and Daniel had formed a bond…that no doubt started to bloom slowly into love….but it took a long time before it was fully bloomed.

"Should we tell them?" Daniel asked. "About the baby."

"It's still kind of early." Betty warned.

"It's not like half of them don't know already," said Daniel.

"True. Okay…I guess we can," said Betty. After all, she needed some happiness and the baby was one of the things that made her happy.

Daniel reached down and took her hand, leading her into the dining room, where everyone else was waiting for them.

"It's about time," said Amanda. "Can we just skip over the dinner and go right to dessert? I could eat a whole pan of flan by myself."

"You can't do that." Tyler chuckled.

"Yes. She can….and has," said Hilda. "Actually, she polished off two pans….and didn't even blink."

Daniel pulled out Betty's chair for her and she sat down beside Isabella. Brandon was seated on the other side of Daniel.

Betty felt Daniel's hands on her shoulders, as he continued to stand. "Before we get started, I just wanted to thank all of you for coming here on short notice. It means a lot to Betty and I. We also appreciate all your support in helping us through everything…"

He continued. "And there is just one more thing….well, some of you already know…" Betty glanced up and saw Daniel look at Amanda and Tyler. "Betty and I are expecting a baby."

As Betty looked around, it didn't seem that any of this was a surprise to anyone. "You all knew…"

"Of course, we knew, dear." Claire took a sip from her water-glass. Betty scanned around the table. There was not a surprised expression in the whole bunch.

"A baby…" Isabella's eyes lit up. "Mommy is going to have a baby. "

Betty smiled wide and nodded "Yes."

"What is it?" Brandon asked.

"We….we don't know. It's going to be a surprise." Betty didn't want to get into all the mechanics of a pregnancy at the dinner table.

"I want a sister," said Isabella.

"I want a brother," said Brandon.

"Maybe they will have both," said Amanda. Betty could tell that Amanda regretted saying that as soon as she said it. She knew that Amanda didn't mean any harm though.

"Where is the baby going to stay?" Brandon said. "We are running out of bedrooms especially if there are two of them."

"The baby is going to sleep in mommy's tummy, silly" Isabella replied.

"Forever…" Brandon's eyes got wide.

"Oh…God. I hope not." Betty laughed. "Just for nine months and then the baby will come live with us."

"But how did the baby get in your tummy?" Brandon asked.

The table erupted in laughter, as Betty looked up at Daniel.

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	37. Chapter 37

**The Ties That Bind**

Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I appreciate your patience, as life has been crazy this past week. I hope that things will calm down soon and I can get back to my regular updates.

* * *

**Chapter 37**

Daniel and Betty sat close together on the backseat of the town car on their way to meet Matt to read the results of the DNA test together. As the car moved through the Manhattan traffic, Daniel found himself unable to keep his hands off his new bride.

_Thank goodness for the dark windows on the town car and the discrete driver that got paid extra to keep his eyes on the road and his mouth closed._

As Daniel lifted his hand to Betty's cheek, he deepened the kiss. He heard Betty make that little sound that made him wish that weren't in the back of a town car and that they didn't have some place really important to be now.

"Daniel…" Betty pulled back from the heated kiss. "What's gotten into you?"

He made a beeline for her neck, pushing her long hair aside. "Well, I didn't get my reward for being a good boy last night, due to the two children that crawled into bed with us."

Betty giggled. "That's Amanda's fault. She was the one that let them watch that scary movie yesterday afternoon."

"Remind me to do the same when she and Tyler have children." Daniel looked at her momentarily and then continued his affectionate assault on her neck.

"You are not going to do that." Betty took a deep breath and then started to laugh. "Stop…your beard tickles…"

"I thought you liked it." He continued dropping kisses down her neck. His hands reached for the button on her blouse.

"Daniel…" She slapped his hand away. He pulled his hand away from the button and rested it further down on her abdomen. "We need to stop. We are going to be there any minute."

"Do I have too?" Daniel murmured. "It's not like Matt didn't get part of a show from us yesterday. We might as well give him the whole production."

"Well….no….uh…" Betty's head fell back against the seat as nibbled on her ear. "God…no…..I mean, yes…."

Daniel chuckled. "Is it yes…you want me to keep going or no… don't stop? "

"Nice try. Yes, you have to stop." Betty said breathlessly.

Daniel pulled back from her slightly. His eye met hers. "I guess that we can continue this later."

"We have to meet Matt, and then we have to meet Tyler and Brandon at the doctor's office," said Betty. "Then you have to pick up Isabella while I go to a meeting."

"Poor little guy. I feel so bad for him," Daniel leaned back against the seat and attempted to calm himself, as he tried to take his mind off how gorgeous Betty was and how she was just glowing.

"Well, I hope that we are able to find a bone marrow donor because they say that it his best chance for long-term remission. I just hope that his aunt can help us with that," said Betty. "Maybe she will get tested or can put us in contact with some other family members."

"It's worth a shot. " Daniel felt helpless until his phone call phone call from Brandon's aunt came in late last night. "When I talked to her last night, she seemed hopeful." Daniel reached for Betty's hand, taking in his. "We are going to get him through this."

"I hope so. He hardly eats anything," said Betty. "He was so weak this morning that I almost didn't want to leave him."

"Amanda and Tyler are there with him. Anyway, I told Matt that we were going to have to make this meeting quick….and depending on the results, reschedule another meeting to discuss everything else."

"I thought he wanted to get back to Botswana right away," said Betty.

"He does…but he agreed to stay a few more days, if necessary. He said he realized that he wasn't being fair to us, especially if we do turn out to be Danny's parents." Daniel pulled his arm around Betty and pulled her closer. "After all, none of this is our fault. Adrianna was the one that stole our child away from us. It's not like we gave him away."

He felt Betty relax against him, settling in under his arm. Her head back against his shoulder. "I guess we will know soon."

"Yeah…" Daniel kissed her forehead.

For a few minutes, they rode in silence, until the silence was interrupted by the sound of Betty giggling.

"What's so funny?" Daniel asked curiously.

"You are." Betty grinned playfully.

"Me?"

"Yes…I was just thinking about how adorable you were last night trying to explain to Isabella and Brandon how the baby got in my tummy," said Betty.

"Well, you weren't helping," said Daniel. "All you could do was laugh at me."

"I wasn't laughing you, sweetie. " Betty kissed him on the cheek.

"Yes you were."

"Okay, I was laughing at you at little. I just think that it's funny that you were once this sex god to the women of Manhattan and now you can't give our six-year old children a bit of basic information without turning red."

"Well…I never thought I would have to have that talk with the rest of our family watching…..and my mother saying….yes, Daniel, how are babies made?"

Daniel had thankful that dinner conversation had been interrupted by Amanda's suggestion that they start eating before the food got cold and her suggestion that Daniel didn't obviously was just as clueless the little ones.

"Well, we were saved by the bell…but only temporarily, Isabella said that Hilda told her something about the stork bringing the baby and that only made Isabella ask more questions….like how the stork got into the house….did it come down the chimney like Santa…."

"Is that why she was trying to look inside the fireplace?" Daniel asked, recalling the earlier evening.

"Yes…and she also wanted to know how the stork got the baby in my belly….and how you were involved in the process."

"I guess I am the stork…." Daniel said playfully. He felt the car come to a stop outside the coffee shop, where they had agreed to meet Matt. They would have met at the hospital but this was closer to their next destination.

Betty turns to look out window. "Well, it looks like we're here." She took a deep breath.

Daniel could tell that she was nervous. It was okay though because so was he. "It's going to be fine."

"I know." She looked away and nodded. "I'm just scared...scared of so many things. I'm scared that the test is going to tell us that he's our son….I'm scared that it's going to tell us that he isn't our son. I'm scared of what it is going to mean for all of us, if he is our son. I'm scared that he's not…and that will mean that our son is still out there somewhere in the world and we might never find him."

"We are going to get through this together. Whatever happens in a few minutes, we have each other and we have two beautiful children….plus one on the way. Dwelling on the past isn't going to change it. The most important thing is to hope the best for the future, Betty."

"How did I ever make it without you?" Betty smiled at him affectionately.

"I'm not sure." He said jokingly.

Betty chuckled. "Let's go." The driver opened up the door and they both exited the car.

Betty took Daniel's arm and he led her over to the table, where Matt was already waiting for them. The white envelope sat sealed on the table in front of him.

Daniel's best guess was that those were the DNA results.

"Hi!" Betty said as she slid into the chair. He quickly took the seat beside her. His eyes focused on the plain white envelope.

"Are those the results?" Daniel asked.

"Yes…." Matt nodded, as he picked up the envelope.

Daniel reached over for Betty's hand. "I guess we should probably just read the results, so that we can figure out what comes next."

"Okay…there's no point in delaying things." Matt slowly opened the envelope, pulling out the piece of paper. This simplest task it seemed was taking forever to complete.

_That piece of paper would tell them that Danny was their son and Isabella's twin brother._

In a few seconds, Daniel was going to be able to tell Betty that all her concerns were for nothing and they could begin the next step of bonding with Danny.

Matt opened the piece of paper and scanned over it. He lifted his eyes across the table.

"Well…." Betty finally spoke up. Two more seconds and Daniel was about to do the same thing. Daniel knew the suspense was killing both of them.

"Wow...I didn't think this was how it was going to turn out." Matt said hesitantly. Daniel tried to read the expression on Matt's face but was not successful.

"What does it say?" Daniel asked. "Is Danny our son?"

Matt shook his head. "I'm sorry. He's not. "

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	38. Chapter 38

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I love the feedback because it lets me see the story through your eyes. _

**Chapter 38**

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It would be an understatement to say that the last week had been difficult. Betty and Daniel were doing everything possible to hold each other up in aftermath of the results of the DNA test and the other issues that had come up.

It had been seven days since Betty and Daniel had met Matt at that café and they had seen the DNA results. Since that day, Daniel had declared war on the Hartley's and was on a mission to prove that Danny was their son.

After all, how could he not be? The resemblance was uncanny and it wouldn't be the first time that there had been a DNA test mix up.

Despite everything, Betty even thought it was a good idea to have one more test to make sure that there had been no mistakes. But Matt had refused her request. In fact, he wouldn't even let her or Daniel see Little Danny.

Matt was adamant that there had been no mistakes with the DNA test. The test had no been tampered with or altered in any way.

Daniel called Matt a liar right there on the Manhattan sidewalk, as Betty had done her best to pull Daniel into the town car before things got worse.

Now, the Meade lawyers were involved. The Harley lawyers were involved. Nothing was getting done. Neither side was willing to negotiate with the other. This only made Daniel more determined to prove that Danny was their son. After all, why would they be so stubborn, if there wasn't something to hide? Daniel would say.

And as much as Betty didn't want to think that Matt would do something like that. She had to admit that Daniel might be right. People do some desperate things sometimes. Betty knew all about that.

The one thing that Betty was thankful for was that the story had not been leaded to the media.

Thankfully, that was one thing that Matt wasn't being hard-headed about. He knew that any media firestorm would be a distraction, that they didn't need now.

Two days ago, the DNA test situation had been pushed to the back-burner. Not for lack of importance, of course. The battle for Danny would just have to be left up to Daniel's attorney. They needed to focus on Brandon and the difficult journey that he was on because he needed them more than ever.

It had all started when Brandon lost his appetite. He got weaker and weaker as the days went on; seeing the once rowdy little boy come quieter and slower was breaking their hearts.

Then, Brandon's hair started to fall out from the treatments; that night Daniel helped shave Brandon's hair off and that night Betty held Daniel while they both cried themselves to sleep in the privacy of their bedroom.

Things continued to go downhill when Brandon was hospitalized, due to a high fever. Since Brandon was admitted to the hospital, Daniel had been there with him and staying with him every single day and night.

For the first day, Daniel had kept her away because someone had told him that pregnant women couldn't be around patients receiving chemotherapy.

Despite the doctor telling him that it was okay for her to visit, Daniel still only allowed her to visit for a short time every day. After all, she was still in her first trimester and anything could happen.

Daniel was just being overprotective and she was going to let him. After all, she wanted him to be part of the pregnancy since he missed out with the twins.

So after her visit at the hospital, she would come home and rest, under Dr. Daniel's order, and wait for Isabella to come home from school.

Betty's presence at home was a blessing today though, when Brandon's aunt Connie showed up on their front step a day earlier than expected.

"I'm sorry that Daniel isn't here." Betty placed filled the tea-cup on the table in front of Connie. "He's been a little distracted the past few days.

"That's understandable," said Connie. "I'm sure that he's very worried about Brandon."

"He is…"

"Daniel told me that you and he got married a few weeks ago and you are expecting," Connie grinned.

"Yes." Betty placed her hand over her flat stomach lightly. "We are pretty happy about it."

"That's wonderful. I could just hear how happy Daniel was on the phone last week," said Connie. "The bit that I got to know Daniel during Brandon's adoption. I knew that this Betty person he kept talking about had to be someone really special in his life. I'm glad to see that you found your way back to each other."

"It's been a journey but I have to say that it's easier now that we all have each other," said Betty.

Connie's smile faded slightly. "Yes. I'm sure that it does help."

"Is everything okay?" Betty asked curiously.

"I'm just sorry that I haven't been able to get here sooner." The blonde women lifted her cup.

"Well, you are here a day early. I wish you would have called us. I could have had someone pick you up at the airport," said Betty.

"Actually, I have to be in Seattle tomorrow morning. I travel a lot….but I knew that it was important that I come here."

"I'm sure that Brandon will be happy to see you before you have to leave," said Betty. "I'm bet he really misses you."

"To be honest, he barely knows me enough to miss me. I probably only saw him a handful of times from the day since my sister adopted him, until I brought him to Daniel after my sister and brother-in-law were killed." Connie sipped from the tea-cup. Her expression was a solemn one.

"Oh…Wait…did you say adopted?" Betty was stunned.

"Yes." Connie nodded, placing her cup back on the table.

Her heart sank upon hearing that Brandon had also been adopted by Colin and Michelle. Betty's hopes that a bone marrow donor could be found among Michelle's family were suddenly dashed.

"Oh." Betty let out a tense breath.

"My sister called Brandon their miracle," said Connie. "You see, they had tried and tried for years to get pregnant. She was so frustrated."

Infertility was not something that Betty could relate to. All Daniel seemed to have to do was hang his coat next to her and they got pregnant. Still, she could imagine that it would be a difficult thing, if she had to deal with it.

"I really can't imagine." Betty said honestly.

"Anyway, Colin had a friend that approached him about the opportunity to adopt Brandon. I still remember the call from Michelle telling me that they were adopting him. She was so excited. I think that she went out that night and bought every single baby item in the store."

Betty smiled. "But she had a little girl too? Brandon had a sister."

"Yes. She got pregnant with her about six months after Brandon came to live with them," said Connie. "My sister loved her kids. They were everything to her."

"I know the feeling." Betty sighed, as she thought about Daniel and Brandon across town. She wanted to call him now and tell him to come home.

How could Daniel not know that Brandon had been adopted? Wouldn't that have come up at some point during the adoption process?

Then again, dwelling on what happened in the past was not going to help them now. She remembered Daniel telling her that when it came to Danny and their quest to find their missing son.

The same goes for this. Dwelling on the past was not going to help Brandon in his battle….and it looked more and more like Brandon was going to need a miracle of his own.

And if Connie didn't have the answers to help them find that miracle, they had hit a road block they might not be able to get through.

"I don't understand though. You said that you might be able to help with locating a bone marrow donor for Brandon," said Betty.

"Yes." Connie reached into her bag and retrieved a folder, placing it on the edge of the table. "I found these documents in Colin's office after the accident. It's information about his adoption and his biological parents. This will help you find the answers you are looking for."

Betty started at the folder on the table and her heart beat wildly. "Really."

Connie nodded. "I have to confess."

"Confess?" Betty narrowed her eyes.

"I forged the letter that stated that said that Colin and Michelle wanted Brandon to come live with Daniel, if anything happened." Connie said shamefully.

"What…why would you do that? I don't understand."

"I did it because I wanted to help set thing right," said Connie.

"Still don't understand. Set what right?" Betty asked.

Connie took a deep breath. "Colin was a good man. He loved my sister and I just wanted to protect both of them. I never wanted anyone to find out what they had done."

"Okay…"

"After he died, I found this folder in his office. I don't know why he kept it. Maybe he thought he had plenty of time to get rid of it. I don't know…" Connie was frantic now.

"Connie, you aren't making any sense." Betty shook her head.

Connie flipped open the file. "There are emails. There are bank transactions. All the information is here. I had to bring Brandon to Daniel….I had to make it right."

"What?"

"Brandon is Daniel's biological son."

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	39. Chapter 39

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback on the previous chapter. I appreciate all of them. This story will be wrapping up soon….probably a few more chapters….and probably an epilogue. I want to thank you for making this the most reviewed story that I've ever written….OVER 400 reviews…I can't thank you all enough._

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**Chapter 39**

Daniel knew that he would never forget the trembling that he heard in Betty's voice on the other end of the phone when she called him. He could tell that she had been crying but when he asked her what was wrong. She told him that he needed to come home.

Not…come home when he was able to get away. She was insistent that he come home immediately. In fact, he couldn't recall every hearing her sound exactly like that. And it terrified him that something was wrong with her or the baby.

By the time, Daniel rushed through the front door of their home. He was sure that was what it had to be. Otherwise, she would have told him what was wrong over the phone.

When Daniel found her sitting at the dining room table, he felt a weight fall on his shoulders when he saw her tear-stained face when she looked up at him.

His worst fears was that the stress of the legal issues with Matt, the incident with Adrianna and Brandon's illness had taken their toll on her and their baby.

"Honey…" Daniel rushed over to her and fell to his knees. His heart pounded. "Are you okay?"

"Daniel…" She started to cry harder since he had entered the room. As he pulled his arms around her, he could feel her entire body shaking.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Daniel closed his eyes tight and prayed that he was wrong and this was just pregnancy hormones.

She continued to cry and hold him. Her silence was scaring him more. In fact, it was killing him to not know what was going on.

He pulled himself away. "Betty, what's wrong?" He reached up and tried to wipe her wet cheek. "Please." He swallowed hard and asked the question he had previously been afraid to ask. "Betty, is something wrong with you or…the baby? Do you need a doctor?"

His eyes floated down to her stomach. Then, he brought his eyes back to hers.

"I'm fine. The baby is fine." She took a deep breath and tried to get her emotions under control

"You scared me. Why are you crying?"

"It's Brandon…" She took her eyes away from his.

"Oh…honey. Brandon is going to come through this." He said reassuringly. "We are going to find a way to get him through this."

"I know that he will be….I know that more than ever now." Betty managed a smile. "In fact, I know how we can help him."

"Okay…I'm listening." He pulled her hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear.

"The answer has been right in front of us the whole time." Her eyes turned to the multiple papers that lay across the table.

"Okay?" He wasn't sure what Betty was talking about.

"Connie was here and she brought this information to us about Brandon's biological parents," said Betty.

"Colin and Michelle."

"That's the thing. They weren't his real parents, Daniel"

"What?" Daniel tried to rack his brain but he was coming up blank. This was the first he had heard of this. "Wow….where are his parents? They might be able to help."

"Daniel, we are his parents. He's our son."

He could barely believe what he was hearing. How could it be even possible that Daniel had actually managed to adopt his own son?

"That's impossible. I mean…his birth certificate has Colin and Michelle's name on it?" Daniel had to be honest. This sounded crazy….even though, he wanted it to be true.

"I know it sounds impossible but it's not….and I had my doubts too but the proof is here." Betty placed her hand on the stacks of papers. "Daniel, we found our baby."

"What about Danny?" Daniel asked.

"Maybe, the test was right." Betty shrugged. "I know Danny looks like you but….I have to admit. I felt a connection with Brandon that I didn't feel with Danny. I can't even explain it."

Daniel knew exactly what Betty was saying. From the moment, Brandon had entered his life. It was like it was meant to be.

"I think the best thing we can do to confirm this is to do our own DNA test on Brandon. If it comes back telling us that Brandon really is our son, we know that Danny really isn't."

"Are you sure you didn't have triplets?" Daniel was skeptical.

"No. I know there were only two babies in there." She smiled. "You saw the ultrasound photos."

Daniel got up from the floor. His knees were killing him. He quickly pulled up a chair beside her. His eyes scanned over the documents that were spread across the tabletop. There were emails. There were bank transactions. There were photos of the babies together. There was even a photo of Betty in London and one of Daniel in New York.

"I barely know where to start…." Betty scanned the paperwork.

Daniel placed his hand on Betty's back. "Just start at the beginning…"

As the next few hours progressed, Daniel and Betty sat there. After reading through emails, looking over the photos and the stacks of paperwork, the situation had become much clearer to Daniel.

It seemed that Adrianna wasn't the only one that had become aware that Betty had been pregnant with the Meade heir.

"You and Colin were friends? Right?"

"Yes….and you never stole any of his girlfriends?" Betty peeked over at him.

"No. I didn't." Daniel couldn't figure it out. "I really don't think that he knew that the baby was mine…or ours. It's like you said….they wanted a baby and someone gave them one. They didn't really question it."

"I guess….but if someone showed up with a baby on our door step and said here you go…I would have a few questions," said Betty.

"Most of this information was gathered just before Colin died. I think he just found out," said Daniel. "Colin would never do something like this…."

"Well, it's possible that maybe you didn't know him as well as you thought," said Betty. "Connor was your friend and he stole from Meade."

"Yes…I know." Of course, Connor had done what he had done because of Molly but now, Daniel didn't want to get into that. "There is obviously a middle man here... someone who wanted to keep me away from a child they knew I would want more than anything."

Daniel scuffled through the emails. "I just can't seem to figure out who it is and how Colin got wrapped up in this."

"So… this mystery person….we'll call him Mr. X… paid the doctor a million dollars to get him to hand over Brandon," said Betty.

"It appears that way." Daniel nodded.

"But Adrianna had also paid the doctor $500,000 of the money she took from Matt."

"Yes..." It was no wonder that the doctor hadn't given both Isabella and Brandon away. The only thing that seemed to have saved Isabella is that she was a girl and both bidders were adamant that they be given the male heir.

"So…the baby went to the highest bidder." Betty placed her hand over her mouth. "God….this just all makes me sick that someone would do this."

"I know….me too." Daniel pulled his arm around her, giving her a gentle squeeze. "Whoever did this is going to pay…I promise."

"The doctor just gave Adrianna someone else's baby and told her that Danny was yours, "said Betty. "I wonder where Danny's real mother is and if she was told that her baby died too."

"We really need to call the police…and try to get a hold of Matt and tell him what's going on. I mean….if Brandon is ours, Danny's mother could be going through the same thing you went through. She deserves to know that Danny is alive. Maybe, the doctor can help us find her."

"Adrianna was a real piece of work." Betty said in a harsh tone.

Daniel agreed. "The doctor probably thought that Adrianna would never find out the truth. I guess we know why Adrianna didn't think twice about leaving Danny with Matt. He wasn't the baby she wanted."

"She really wanted your baby."

"When I talked to the doctor in Botswana, he told me that he did everything he could to make things right." Daniel picked up the email from the doctor had sent to Colin. "I guess he was talking about this email warning Colin that Adrianna had threatened to come looking for Brandon."

"Do you think that Adrianna had something to do with Colin and Michelle's accident?" Betty asked.

"We'll probably never know that answer to that one," said Daniel.

"Maybe she knew that Brandon was your son and that's why she came back to New York," said Betty.

"I really don't think so because in all the time she worked for me, she barely looked at Brandon. She was too busy flirting with me and trying to get me to sleep with her. Now, I know what she was up to."

"Well, I'm glad that she didn't succeed." Betty got up and moved around behind him.

"Me too."

Betty wrapped her arms around his neck and looked over his shoulder and whispered in his ear. "Daniel, I know we need to call the police…but can we go see Brandon first?"

"Betty, you know…." He turned towards her

"I know what you are going to sa but..." Betty took a deep breath and looked in his eyes. "I want to see our baby."

Daniel knew there was no way that he could tell Betty, no. "Okay."

"Daniel, we found him and now we can try to save him," said Betty.

"We will save him, Betty."

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	40. Chapter 40

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the feedback and comments. I really do appreciate you all so much._

**Chapter 40**

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Betty sat the dining room table, watching the cursor blink repeatedly on the blank page before her. She had stared at the page for over an hour.

She knew that she had something to write but there was nothing that being translated onto the page. There was just too much on her mind right now to attempt such an impossible task as the one she had in mind.

Maybe, she was just fooling herself to think that she could write a book.

She powered down her laptop and closed the lid. Maybe, it would better to try again another day when there wasn't so much weighing on her mind.

Now, she just had to figure out how to keep her mind occupied until Daniel returned with the DNA results they were waiting on.

"Mommy…." Isabella ran into the room, waving a piece of paper. She climbed onto the chair across from Betty. "Look what I drew for Brandon."

Betty took the piece of paper. "Wow…this is great."

Isabella leaned over the table, pointing at the figures draw in an array of colors on the paper. "That's me, Brandon and you and Daddy."

Betty looked up in the corner of the page at a strange-looking figure. "What's that?"

"That's the baby."

"It looks like a bird." Betty smiled.

"That's the stork that's bringing the baby….Mommy. You should know that." The little girl's giggled floated through the room. "I made Justin show me what it looked like, so I would know what to look for. Justin Googled it for me."

"Oh…yes. Of course, I should have known what it was." Betty needed to laugh right now and one thing that she had always been able to count on with Isabella's ability to make her see how lucky she was…even when things were bad.

Betty heard the front door open and then close, signaling to her that Daniel must be home.

"Can we go see Brandon later…please?" Her blues eyes pleaded.

"Did you feed Harry?" Daniel asked, as he entered the room.

"Eww…yes, I did, Daddy." Isabella wrinkled her little nose.

"Good job, princess." Daniel kissed her on the cheek.

"Did you close the lid this time?" Betty asked hopefully. She had to give that spider credit. He also found a way out of his aquarium.

"Uh….umm" Isabella twisted her mouth, as she looked from her father back to Betty. "I'll go make sure."

Isabella jumped down from her chair and scurried out of the room.

Betty closed her eyes. "Please tell me Harry didn't get out again. We almost didn't find him last time."

"I'm sure that it's fine, sweetie." Daniel took a seat across from her and took her hand.

"I hope so." She tried to manage a smile.

Daniel squeezed her hand. He looked back over his shoulder, probably to make sure that Isabella wasn't going to walk in on their conversation.

"Well…" Betty tried to steady her breathing.

"He really is our son, Betty. The DNA results confirmed it."

Betty and Daniel were already convinced without the test. They had just wanted to have the proof to show that he really did belong to them.

"What about the bone marrow? Did you talk to his doctor?"

"Yes…" Daniel nodded. "They said that since Isabella and Brandon are twins. She would be the best possible chance for a match."

"What about us?" Betty asked.

"We can be tested but even if we are a match…." He paused. "You wouldn't be able to donate because of the pregnancy and I might not be able to because of my recent trip to Botswana. If I'm a match, they would have to do further tests because Botswana is prone to malaria."

"What?" Betty felt like everything was working against them.

"Betty, there is still a good chance that Isabella can save Brandon. About 35% chance actually."

"It's the other 65% that I'm worried about," said Betty.

"I've already talked to your dad and my mom. Everyone is going to be tested, just to make sure that no one else is a match. Alexis and DJ are already on the way here too…but Isabella is our best chance right now. I just want to explore all our options."

Betty felt eyes tear up. "How are we supposed to explain to her that Brandon is her twin brother? How is she supposed to understand it when we don't even understand it?"

"We don't have to explain everything right now, Betty. I don't think either of them would be able to understand the tangled mess. The important thing is that we are a family." Daniel looked directly in her eyes "Even before we knew the truth, we didn't need a DNA test to tell us that."

"You are so right." While they all had a rocky start, once they were together. Everything had fallen together effortlessly. Isabella and Brandon were closer than ever.

"I also talked to Matt." Daniel said hesitantly.

"How did that go?" Betty was almost afraid to ask. After everything that happened, Betty knew that it took a lot of Daniel to apologize to Matt. In the end, Matt was very understanding and offered his help that he might be able to offer in helping with Brandon.

"He wanted to let me know that he and Danny are headed back to Botswana this afternoon. When he gets there, he is going to try to track down the doctor and talk to him. They also have someone looking into the other women that might have been in the same hospital with you."

"There can't be that many."

"Hopefully not but he said that he would do anything he had to do to track down Danny's real mother," said Daniel. "Matt is also going to try to find out who gave Brandon to Colin and Michelle since all that paperwork was just a dead-end."

"Adrianna really made a mess."

"Just forget about her, Betty. She's gone."

"Easy for you to say. She didn't hold you at gun point," said Betty.

"She drugged me and tried to sleep with me." Daniel tore his eyes away from hers.

"You remembered something…" Betty bit her lip.

"Not much….just little bit here and there." Daniel's eyes returned to hers.

"How about we tried to forget about Adrianna? It's not going to do either of us any good to bring up the past," said Betty. "It's like you said. She's gone."

"I'm actually more concerned that the other person is out there that someone else hated me enough to take Brandon away in the first place."

"I know but they obviously haven't turned up yet. Maybe they have moved on," said Betty.

"I'm sure that someone doesn't pay a million dollars for a baby and just forget about it," said Daniel.

"We can hope," said Betty optimistically.

"I hope so too. We should just focus on our children and let the police do their job."

"Exactly." Betty gave him the best hopeful smile that she could muster. The sound of Isabella's footsteps could be heard coming down the staircase. "We are all together now and nothing is going to change that. Let's focus on the good things that we have to look forward to. We've had to deal with enough of the bad."

He lifted her hand and kissed it, smiling at her.

"Daddy!" Isabella rushed back in the dining room. "Harry is in his cage. I close the lid."

"I'm sure that makes Mommy very happy." Daniel grinned playfully.

"Yes…very happy." Betty confirmed, as she watched Daniel help Isabella climb into his lap.

Isabella leaned her head on Daniel's shoulder. "Daddy, can we go see Brandon later?"

"Actually, I was thinking that we can all go see him tomorrow," said Daniel. "How's that?"

"I have to go to school," said Isabella. "Remember?"

"I think we can make an exception. Tomorrow, we are going to go to the hospital and get some tests."

"Are we sick too?" Isabella's eyes went dim.

"No, baby," said Daniel. "We are going to the hospital to see if anyone in our family has the magic to help Brandon feel better."

"Magic…" Isabella said softly.

"Yes…and you might be able to play an important part in helping your brother." Betty wanted to make sure that she understood. . "If you want too…"

"Really." Her face lit up and she looked over at Betty. She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes…yes…I want him to get better so that he can come home."

"I'm so proud of you." Betty looked over at Isabella. It was amazing to see Isabella so willing to help her brother. She was a very brave little girl, just like Brandon was so brave in facing his illness. Betty couldn't believe how similarities that she was starting to see between the two.

"Me too." Daniel kissed his daughter's cheek. "Now…how about we go for ice cream and then go pick out a video game to take to Brandon when we go visit him tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" Isabella cheered happily.

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	41. Chapter 41

**The Ties That Bind**

_Author's Note: Thank you for the comments, feedback and your patience. School work has been killing me this week. I would rather be writing Detty fan fics than a paper on lung cancer and workplace discrimination. (Two separate papers…not one paper about both…) One more chapter…and I know that you guys still have some unanswered questions but they will be answered in the epilogue._

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**Chapter 41**

In the darkness, Daniel reached over for Betty. As he reached forward, he found her side of the bed, abandoned and cold. He focused on the alarm clock on her bedside table and saw that it was 3:11 in the morning.

After the day they had, it probably shouldn't have come as a surprise that she would have some trouble sleeping. He just hoped that this time that he wouldn't find her downstairs in the kitchen, putting the spices in alphabetical order or in their walk in closet, organizing his suits by color to keep her mind off the stress they had been under.

But she wasn't taking care of herself. She wasn't eating right. She wasn't sleeping. This was the fourth night she had been missing from their bed. Enough was enough.

Betty was taking care of everyone else. It was his job as her husband to take care of her. Daniel threw back the covers and went off in search of his missing bride.

As Daniel made his way down the hall, he began his search. First, he peeked into Brandon's room. There was one night that he found Betty sitting in the chair in the corner of his room. There was no Betty there, just Brandon sleeping peacefully.

His next stop was Isabella's room. As he opened the door, he saw Isabella in her new canopy bed with all the covers pushed off the end of the bed. He went inside and pulled the pink comfortable back over, picking up her teddy bear off the floor and putting it back on the bed beside his sleeping daughter

Once he tucked Isabella back in, he continued down the hall, where he finally found Betty in his office. She was sitting at his desk, typing away on her new laptop.

As he moved in slowly behind her, he was careful not to break her concentration. He brought his hands to her shoulder and leaned over her shoulder.

""Oh…Daniel" She jumped. "You scared me."

"Sorry. I didn't want to disturb you but I was kind of wondering when you were coming to bed." He massaged her shoulders and kissed the side of her head. "What are you working on, sweetie?"

Betty quickly saved her work and closed out the document. "Nothing…it's nothing." She turned around in the chair to face him.

"Didn't look like nothing?" Daniel brought his face down to hers, kissing her forehead.

"Just a few ideas…that's all."

"For what?" Daniel asked curiously.

"It's really nothing important." Betty seemed anxious. "I told you. I was just playing around with some ideas."

"You were pretty insane there." Daniel chuckled, as he glanced at the boxes along the far wall of his office that had been brought from Queens; the last of Isabella and Betty's belongings from Betty's father's house.

"I was just writing. I had an idea for a novel." She shrugged. "I ran into your publisher and he said that the book was selling like crazy and he wanted to know if we wanted to write another one. So…I was just kind of playing around with the idea."

Despite the whirlwind that was their life at the moment, Betty needed something to keep her mind occupied while Isabella was at school and he was with Brandon while he was getting his treatments.

"I think that's a great idea." Daniel grinned.

"You don't mind me writing the next book."

"No. I can't think of anyone better than you to write it. After all, you are the one that inspired me to write the others," said Daniel. "Anyway, the world already thinks that you are Maggie Daniels anyway."

Betty let out a sigh. "I'm so glad that you aren't mad."

"No way. I have my real life Antoinette. I don't need to pretend anymore." Daniel gave her a soft kiss.

Daniel gave a nod towards the computers. "So…can I read it?"

He tried to break away but Betty held onto him tighter. She pulled him back.

"No…not yet," said Betty. "I really haven't gotten that far."

"Okay…fine. I'm sure that it'll great," said Daniel. "I can't wait to read it when you are ready."

"Thank you." She relaxed a little.

Betty lifted up on her tip toes to kiss him quickly, before lowering herself back down. She laid her head against his chest once again, making him realize how small she was without heels. She barely came up to his shoulders without heels.

Daniel pulled back from her. "How long have you been up?"

Betty gave him a hesitant glance. "I haven't been….to sleep yet."

Daniel threw his head back and let out a sigh. What was he going to do with her? It was time to take matters into his own hands. If she wasn't going to take care of herself, he was going to have to do it for her.

"Betty, it's almost 4:00 in the morning."

"I realize that. I can tell time. I'll go to be soon. I promise…"

He scooped her up. "That's it."

"Daniel…." She said loudly.

"Shhh….you are going to wait the kids up, Betty." He tightened his grip on her. After all, she and their little one was extremely precious cargo, as he journeyed back towards their bedroom.

"Please let me down, Daniel."

"No. I'm not letting go. You are coming to bed now."

"I just can't…" She shook her head, as they left the office. "All I can do is just lie there and stare at the ceiling…and think everything that happened today."

Daniel could hear the sadness in her voice about the news they had received today. He understood the feeling of helplessness she had right now because he was feeling it too.

Daniel remained silent as he moved through the hallway in front of the children's rooms. Once he was back inside their bedroom, he placed Betty down on the bed and then headed back over to close the door, locking it.

He moved back towards her. "Staying up all night isn't going to fix anything either. You need your rest. If not for yourself, do it for the baby. You need to stay healthy. You heard what the doctor said today."

"I know…" She laid back against the pillow, as he made his way around to his side of the bed and he climbed in beside her. "I can't sleep."

"I'm sure I could think of a thing or two to keep your entertained until you fall asleep." Daniel raised an eyebrow, moving in closer. His right hand splayed across her stomach.

Daniel was anxious for the day that the child growing inside of her was present for the world to see. It almost made him want to speed up time to get to the day they would bring their new baby into the world and what that day might mean when it did arrive.

Betty smiled, as she turned her head towards him. "I thought the idea was for me to get to get some rest."

He pulled her tight against him. "Well, you'll sleep when we're done. Plus, I don't mind doing work."

"Oh…I'm sure you wouldn't mind." Betty yawned.

They both just laid there for a moment in silence. Daniel could see that Betty was starting to get sleepy. He could also tell that she was fighting to stay awake.

"Betty, go to sleep." He brought his hand to her cheek, as he realized that activities would have to wait.

"We are going to figure this out." Daniel told her. He knew that this whole sleepless night had been about Brandon and the news they had received earlier today.

"I'm been trying to think of something…"

"We aren't going to have all the answers tonight," said Daniel. "We are just going to have to be patient. I know it's hard…."

"It's not just hard, Daniel. It's impossible. We just found out that Brandon is our son that I thought was gone and now we might lose him again."

"Brandon is doing better right now. We should be grateful that he could come home, instead of staying in the hospital. We'll find a match." He pressed his lips to her forehead.

"You don't know that." Betty lifted her head and glanced at him. "No one in either of our families was a match for him; not even Isabella…and she was his best chance."

Daniel could see the tears in Betty's eyes. "There are other options too. We just have to wait and see…"

Betty closed her eyes. "What if Brandon doesn't have time to wait?"

"It's possible that they will find an unrelated donor while we are waiting for our other option. Other than that, we just need to be grateful for every day."

"At bedtime, Isabella asked me for the third time today, if we found the magic for Brandon yet. I had to tell her that we were still looking for it." Betty said sadly.

"We are going to find that magic, Betty. I just know it."

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	42. Chapter 42

**The Ties That Bind **

Author's Note: Thank you for all the feedback and comments over the last 41 chapters. I'm so glad that you enjoyed it. I will be starting a new story in the next few days.

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**Chapter 42**

**One Year Later **

It was only a year ago that Betty started out on her journey to write her first book. When she started, she began with the expectation that it would be the next Maggie Daniels' best seller. Three days into the project, Betty knew that it was all wrong.

Because there was a more important story to tell.

Today, Betty stared down at the hardcover book that she held in her hand, she couldn't more proud of the product of her and Daniel's team work.

The bold lettering jumped off the glossy cover.

_The Ties that Binds by Betty and Daniel Meade_

The pages were filled with the story that no tabloid get their hands on. It was the real story of their life together, from co-workers to friends to lover to parents to husband and wife. It was about the connection they had always had, even when life had thrown them together unexpectedly, twelve years earlier.

Of course, the last chapters were filled with things that sounded like they were plot lines from a soap opera. There was everything from baby switching, to kidnapping to crazy ex-girlfriends. It was all in there.

Well…not everything was in there. There were still some unanswered questions about who was responsible for giving Brandon to Colin and Michelle in the first place. The only answer they had gotten was that Danny's mother had told that her son had died, as well.

Of course, Daniel had his suspicions that Connor Owens had been behind it. After all, they never did recover all of the Meade money that he stole and taking away something that would make Daniel happy, seemed right up Connor's alley.

When Matt had gone back to Botswana, he went back to see the doctor that had delivered the twins and Danny and he was gone without a trace.

Despite all the unanswered questions, Betty and Daniel had learned to count their blessings. In the past year, they had been given a number of challenges and a number of miracles.

Their first miracle was Brandon. Against all the odds, their little boy had ended up right where he belonged in the first place. There wasn't a day that went by that they both didn't give thanks for Connie and her confession that they were Brandon's parents. It was a confession that saved Brandon's life.

And though no one in their families was a match for Brandon, they were given another miracle when they discovered half way through her pregnancy that the baby that she was carrying was a match for his brother.

When baby Jack was born four months ago, his cord blood was exactly what Brandon needed to begin his journey down the road of recovery.

"Honey, are you ready yet?"

Betty placed the book down on the shelf. She knew it was almost time to leave for Matt's wedding. Today, Matt was marrying Danny's mother, Angel.

Daniel appeared in the doorway, dressed in his black suit, with Jack in tow.

"Yes. I'm ready."

"Great…because Isabella can't find her shoes." Daniel moved closer with the bright-eyed infant.

"She was wearing them last night. She insisted on pulling them on with her flower girl dress because she said she had to practice walking down the aisle."

Since they didn't technically have an aisle in the house, she used the upstairs hallway.

"Well, they are missing now." Daniel handed the baby off to Betty.

"Check under her bed," Betty asked.

"I'm afraid to look under there since I found Harry dead last month," said Daniel.

Betty chuckled and looked at the clock on the wall. "Just look… We are probably going to be late getting to church now. We need to be there at 2:00."

"Okay…I'll go. I think that Jack needs to be change though." Daniel started out of the room.

"I'll take care of it, Daniel." She followed him, as he made his way up the stairs. Once they reached the top. Isabella was there to greet them.

Betty could see that there was something wrong. "Isabella, is everything okay?"

"Uh…yeah." Isabella bit her bottom lip.

"Bella…." Daniel and Betty stopped on the stairs.

"I can't find my hamster." The little girl said softly.

Daniel looked over at Betty. "I'll help you find it. I'll be right there."

Isabella smiled. "Thank you, Daddy!" She then promptly took off down the hallway towards her room.

"Just another exciting day in the Meade house." Daniel groaned.

"I wouldn't change a thing." Betty giggled.

Daniel gave her a wide grin. "Me either, sweetheart. Me either."

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